The Girls Who Lived: Prisoner of Azkaban
by kamuinoyume
Summary: Sequel to The Girls Who Lived: Chamber of Secrets.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does.

**Chapter 1: The not-so-ideal Birthday parties**

It was a horrid summer day outside! The hot, suffocating air of late July accompanied by the dry climate and killer-bright sun were making Number Four Privet Drive one of the worse places to be at the time.

Dudley and Neville were doing their best to ignore the unbearable heat as they patiently waited for Diana to finish packing her bags while playing a game of exploding snap in the kitchen. Vernon Dursley sat quietly at the table, intently studying the small multicolored plates as they would miraculously turn, on their own for a split second, to reveal a monstrous creature that by all means, should exist only in fairytale, then flip back over and start shaking madly up until either Neville or Dudley would tap them with a spoon and pair them up with a card which had the same design on top. The card would then start flying towards a pack on Dudley or Neville's side and lay still.

Try as he might, Vernon could not begin to explain what exactly was it that he found so interesting in regards to the dull game, because the two boys were looking rather bored as they lazily taped the shaking plates. Granted, this stuff was old news for the both of them, after all, Dudley and the twins had spent the most of June at Neville's place, researching and apparently preparing for the kids third year at Hogwarts, meaning that Dudley, who was absolutely fascinated by anything that had the slightest connection to magic, must have already played the "exploding snap" game quite a number of times over the weeks, but Vernon was another matter entirely!

It had been hard sometimes for him and Petunia to get used to the idea that their twins were magical. But, being the loving and understanding father that he swore he'd be, he'd done his best to try and be supportive of it. Granted, the way those plates just sort of moved on their own and the concept that there was a whole society of people out there (to which his girls belonged to) that he did not understand, scared him more then he'd ever let out to believe.

So, he'd decided to do the only thing humanly possible and buy books about the Wizarding culture, in hope that he'd somehow managed to understand it better (though the books he'd bought had left him more confused then anything). He'd also gone as far as to write to that old Headmaster at that Hogwarts school behind everybody's back, expressing his concerns, and Professor Dumbledore (what a barmy name!) had helpingly sent him a number of books with references to the magical world, which proved to be of a lot more use than anything he had bought.

He still didn't like it! No, that Dumbledore fellow had been rather helpful with those books, but he had accidentally stumbled across _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts_, one of the girl's old school books which were lying around, and what he had found there scared him. These wizards could do some nasty stuff, especially that Grindelwald person seemed like a complete wanker to him!

"Linsy!" Petunia called from the foot of the steps interrupting Vernon's thoughts. "Are you done yet?"

"Almost!" was the vague reply.

Petunia shock her head disappointed and said: "I'm going up there to get them," then marched up the stairs.

"Hey, dad," Dudley said, drawing his attention towards the two boys, who had apparently finished their game while he wasn't looking. "Let's take the stuff up to the car; Diana'll take hours till she's ready!"

Vernon nodded mutely then he, Dudley and Neville proceeded to lift the large blue plastic box filled with lam-meat (which Vernon had specifically purchased a few days ago for this special occasion) and headed for the front door.

The Dursley family, accompanied by Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger, had decided on going camping for Dudley's birthday.

It had been Dudley's idea, because while the Dursleys and Hermione had been camping before, Neville had never once in his life experienced the wonders of the wilderness and all its magnificent green glory. So, naturally, Dudley had phoned a few days ago, to inform their parents that they were coming home and that they should be packed and ready for a few days in the wild life.

Vernon wasn't all to excited about it, after all, it was hot as hell outside, and he hated mosquitoes (and there was bound to be an abundance of them in the forest), while Petunia had always hated camping, but nevertheless chose to tag along in hopes of spending some extra time with her kids.

Vernon opened the front door and squeezed the crate of meat out, managing to get to the car and heave it into the trunk when a voice all too familiar called out to him.

"Mister Dursley!"

"Missis Longbottom, good day," Vernon greeted. "Decided to come with us after all?" he asked.

"No, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to cancel your plans," the strict woman said. She held out a hand to prevent Vernon from speaking and continued. "Believe me, when you hear what I have to say, you shan't be wishing to go anywhere anytime soon!"

By noon, the kids were sulking. Petunia had turned on the cooler and left the five to work on some summer assignments in the living room, while Augusta and the two elder Dursleys had retreated in the kitchen to have an adult talk.

"Sirius Black?" shrieked Petunia startled.

"Please keep it down!" snapped Augusta.

"And he's coming for my girls?" Vernon asked flabbergasted. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Augusta sighed. "Unfortunately, it is the truth, and yes, I'm sure about it. The Minister of Magic himself heard Black murmuring 'he's at Hogwarts', so, he naturally assumed that he was talking about the girls."

"He?" Petunia asked perplexed. "Don't you mean they or she? My girls are, well, girls!"

"Yes," Augusta nodded. "I had my suspicions with regards to the meaning of Black's words. But that doesn't put the girls out of harm's way! After all, Black was the one who sold Lily and James Potter to You-Know-Who; it wouldn't hurt to be precautious."

"Black was the one-" Petunia asked shocked, "- who sold my sister to that psychotic murderer?"

"Yes," Augusta nodded gravely. "It was the reason why he was put into Azkaban." Augusta then proceeded to explain to the two Dursleys how Black had killed thirty people with a single curse while trying to get rid of one of his other friends and how said unfortunate friend had been blasted to smithereens, only a finger remained behind of the valiant wizard.

The Dursleys had taken the news rather badly, going as far as to threaten to removed the girls from school, but Augusta had smacked some sense into them when she'd proceeded to explain the gravity of the situation and that the girls would be much safer at Hogwarts under the watchful eye of the greatest wizard of the century, rather then stuck in a house with defenseless Muggles.

Augusta had then proposed that the Dursleys alongside the Grangers move to her house for the rest of the summer.

"The more we are, the better the chances to defend ourselves against Black! Algie said he and his wife will be there by tomorrow, and besides, my house is hidden under a Fidelius charm, unlike yours."

"Fidelius charm?" asked a confused looking Petunia.

"It means, no one can find it unless the secret keeper, that would be me, tells them exactly where the house is."

The two Dursleys nodded in understanding and agreed to the plan.

The rest of Dudley's birthday was spent packing up stuff and moving them from number four to the Longbottom estate; then they had to repeat the procedure with Hermione's parents.

The evening wasn't that bad. Dudley got tons of presents, both magical and Muggle alike, and a huge cake which Dobby personally made (the elf was rather good at cooking), which ended up splattered across the Longbottom living room, because Uncle Algie popped up around eight uninvited and the first thing he did when he saw the cake was grab a chunk and throw it straight at the birthday-boy's face.

Throughout the course of the following days, the kids began familiarizing themselves with the Grangers (which they had never met before), and with Neville's uncle and aunt.

Algie Longbottom was rather tall and skinny with yellowish teeth, beetle-black eyes and curly gray hair (though it was currently cut short, you could still see the tentative twirl at the end of the straw). He was a rather cheery fellow who liked recounting stories from his days as a war veteran and stuff them up with all kinds of bizarre and amusing events, that you couldn't make heads or tails of it in the end even if you would have tried.

Neville's aunt was a fine example of a nice-loving mother, so, naturally, the kids were disappointed when they found out she had no children. She was rather tall, but not overly so, and slender, with a nice curved body, long black hair, and vivid gray eyes. She loved anything to do with plants and spent most of her time helping Neville in the greenhouse, and she was a master potionere (unlike Snape).

The Grangers were polite and intelligent people; the kids could definitely see where Hermione had gotten her brain and looks. She had Mr. Granger's hair and cheek bones, Miss. Ganger's eyes and nose, and if you looked hard enough, you could see that both father and daughter displayed a nervous tick every time when they where put on the spot (mostly by Miss. Granger) in the form of a repeated tapping of their left leg.

All in all, it looked like it would be a wonderful summer vacation...although not for the girls.

Hermione was stressed out of her mind because Heidi had been hooked on the Draught of Living Death and Wiggenweld Potion for nearly four months, and while everything was going nice and peachy for the first few months, the effects of the two combined potions were starting to take their tool on the girl. Ever so often, she'd change moods for no apparent reason, she spaced out more often then not, she'd run a fever at least once a week (which the adults had thankfully associated with a slight summer fluke) and lets not forget the most recent development. After dinner, Heidi had rushed upstairs to the bathroom to throw-up. Hermione wasn't far behind.

"We need to get you off the potion!" Hermione had desperately yelled.

"You think I don't know that!" Heidi had snapped once she'd managed to compose herself. "But we can't do it now," she'd said and then proceeded to throw up some more.

"Why?" Hermione asked desperately. "You're getting worse by the day! If you go on like this the adults will get suspicious, or worried, and if they send you off to Saint Mungos, we're screwed!"

"I know!" Heidi snapped and leaned back over the can. After dumping the last remains of dinner, she turned back to Hermione, looking positively sick and said: "If I stop taking the potion now, then I'll have to go through four weeks' worth of withdrawal in which I'll be running a skyscraper high fever, lacks of appetite, potions will be rather useless, if not dangerous for my week system, I'd have to suffer through it the old fashion way and frankly, four bloody weeks, someone's gonna notice you know."

"We can pretend you have a summer fever, you know, a really bad case of one," Hermione suggested.

"Then they'll insist on taking me to Saint Mungos, and we'll be screwed, as you so eloquently put it," said Heidi drily. "Sorry, Herms, but I'd rather wait till we're back at Hogwarts to drop the potion."

"Hogwarts?" Hermione asked disbelieved. "Are you insane? If you stop taking the potion at Hogwarts, someone's bound to notice you're going through the withdrawal, especially if it does take four weeks for the bloody thing to go away!"

"No, they won't," Heidi assured. "I'll go to the hospital wing, and convince Madam Pomfrey to tell the teachers I've come up with something and can't go to school-"

"But-" Hermione started to protest, but Heidi cut her off by saying:

"She _did_ take the oath of secrecy with regards to her clients' condition, and, unlike Saint Mungos, her clients are the students! It's our best shot!"

"I don't know," Hermione said as she began chewing on her bottom lip nervously. "I think you should start as soon as possible, to prevent it from getting worse!"

"Well, unless you come up with a plan to make this stupid thing go away, without alerting the adults to our precarious use of potions, I suggest you keep quiet till we're at Hogwarts!" snapped Heidi. "I don't think I'm speaking only for myself when I say, my parents are gonna kill me if they find out about this!"

Hermione bowed her head in resignation.

"I guess, there really isn't one," she admitted defeated. "But what if Madam Pomfrey tells someone?"

"She won't," Heidi assured. "I'll make sure she doesn't before telling her."

"If you're sure," Hermione said uncertain.

"Positive," Heidi nodded.

While Hermione and Heidi were debating how best to handle Heidi's addiction problem, Diana was perched up in her room, with Tom Riddle's diary.

_You see my dilemma here?_ She wrote feeling uncertain.

_Yes, I see what you mean,_ Tom replied. _But not to worry! There are a few efficient charms which can help us get out of this mess!_

_Really? Like what?_ Diana asked eagerly.

_Like concealment charms,_ Tom said simply. _They can disguise the diary into anything you see fit, like, a text book, a notebook, or a box for the matter. I can teach you some of them._

_Tom that would be wonderful!_said Diana delighted. _But, how are you gonna teach me the charms if you're well, pardon my saying, a book. I mean, I'll have to learn the wand-movement from somewhere..._

_Well, there is something I've been meaning to show you, for quite some time now, but I wanted to keep it as a surprise for your birthday...But I guess this is as good a time as any to show you. _

_What?_ Diana asked curiously.

_Are you alone? _

_Yes. I'm alone in my room at the Longbottom estate, the door is locked and everyone else's probably in bed if not sleeping right about now. _

_Excellent! Then it's safe to how you!_

_Show me what?_ Diana asked curiously.

_This,_ was the simple reply.

The pages of the diary suddenly began glowing pure white and Diana felt and invisible force pull her in the pages of the inanimate object, and suddenly the world was nothing but blurs and shadows passing by too fast for the eyes to register.

Diana felt her feet reach solid ground, and stammered slightly as she tried to regain her balance. The world around was still a blur of shadowy figures, which were slowly beginning to assemble themselves into concrete shaped.

Walls as ancient looking as time itself delimitated the space, with high gothic ceilings and a superb stoned floor; two gigantic wooden doors appeared on her left, and on the right there lay a beautiful marble stairway which led to the floor above.

"Hogwarts," Diana whispered mystified.

"Magnificent isn't it?" a soft masculine voice resounded from somewhere behind here.

Diana turned with a start, to come face-to-face with the alluring dark orbs of a handsome sixteen year old boy with aristocratic features and jet black hair.

"Tom," she said in a breathless whisper as she took in every single aspect of the boy's features.

Tom gave a crooked smile and took hold of her hand and brought it to his lips. "It's a pleasure to finally meant you in person, milady," he said as he planted a soft kiss on the tips of her finger.

Diana turned bright red in a matter of seconds and felt her throat go dry, as her heart started hammering wildly in her chest.

"L-l-likewise," she managed to stutter in a silent voice and ducked her head.

Tom's smirk passed unnoticed by Diana as a million questions and thoughts assaulted her brain. For one, she could not believe her luck (and stupidity)! She was standing in the middle on the Great Hall, with the hottest guy she had ever seen and she was stuttering madly and shaking like a little kid! (Damned nerves) Two, how come she ended up here anyway? What was this a parallel world?

"So," Riddle's soft voice broke here trail of thoughts. "Do you like your birthday present?"

"Mm hmm," Diana nodded, as she flushed harder and glued her eyes to a point somewhere above her shoe.

A delicate finger found its way beneath her chin and her head was slowly lifted up until her eyes came to rest on the teen's captivating jet-black orbs.

"While I'm sure the floor is graced by your uncanny infatuation with it, it is rather unladylike to ignore your host," Riddle said as he flashed a dazzling smile.

"Sorry," Diana managed to say weekly.

"Not at all, milady! Now," Tom held up a hand to her and gave her a mischievous smile. "Shall we proceed to the Great Hall? I fear that I unfortunately will not be able to hold you here for long and I hope to teach you at least one of those concealment charms before the time is up."

Diana placed her hand in Tom's and the two of them began walking into the Great Hall.

"Why can't you hold me here for long?" asked Diana.

"It drains me terribly," Tom explained, "to manifest myself or to bring someone else in here."

"Why?"

"I am a magical artifact. I exist because of the magic which my creator, the actual Tom Riddle had bestowed upon me. Had it not been for that, and the memories which he has left within theses pages, I would be a mere lifeless diary today."

"Then, how is it possible that you summoned me here?" asked a confused looking Diana.

"That's rather simple," Riddle stated. "I'm using up my own magic supply."

"The one that' keeping you alive?" Diana asked shocked.

"Technically speaking, yes."

Diana suddenly let go of Tom's hand, looking horrified. "Take me back, NOW!" she ordered.

Tom turned a hurt expressing her way. "I thought you wanted to meat me in person," he said sulkily.

"I did!" Diana assured. "But not at the cost of your life!"

Riddle snorted. "You call this a life," he said morosely and twirled his finger around the place. "You're the only person I have had the pleasure of sharing this place for over 50 years. It does get rather boring living in here all by yourself, you know. So, forgive me if I'm not too eager to see you leave."

Diana bowed her head in understanding as she imagined what it must have felt like to be stuck in the same place all alone for such a long time.

"Can't you get out of here?" Diana asked hopefully.

"I'm not sure," Riddle said and smiled apologetically at her. "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for. I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you."

"No problem!" Diana hasted in assuring.

"Well then, shall we begin our training?" Tom asked.

"Of course," Diana nodded eagerly.

-OOOOOOOO-

The days at the Longbottom estate seemed to pass by in a blur as Augusta and the other adults helped the children prepare for their third year at Hogwarts. Thankfully, Heidi's little food problem seemed to have been just an unfortunate coincidence of food poisoning, since, apparently, Swoopy (the chef house-elf of the estate), and Dobby, had argued while making dinner, and so, had neglected to watch the soup, so, Rolla (a rather ancient house-elf left to them by their great-grandmother) who'd decided to give them a helping hand, had accidentally used a few eggs, which after some close inspection looked to be more old then she was. ("That is some complicated stuff," Heidi had muttered.) Of course, no one had been as sick as Heidi, but thankfully, the next day, the girl was fine, (if you didn't count the occasional mood swings and depressions which seemed to come and go).

So, without further ado, the thirty first of July found the inhabitants of the Longbottom estate up and ready to travel at seven a.m. sharp.

A few days ago, Algie Longbottom had swooped in the dining room, grinning like a child on Christmas eve, and had proceeded to bombard them with the news that the Falmouth Falcons where playing the Wimbourne Wasps (two British Quidditch teams the kids had never heard of) on the thirty first of the month.

"Right on time for the twins' birthday!" Algie said excited. "What better birthday present can you ask for?"

The concept of finally being able to see a Quidditch match played by professionals, excited the kids, though Missis Longbottom was quick to disagree.

"Are you barking mad!" she'd shrieked at Algie. "A murdering psychopath is after the girls and all you can think about is Quidditch?"

"What's so wrong with some fun and relaxation in between a load of stress and nerves and non-stop work, once in a while? Merlin, Augusta, I know you mean well, but there isn't a day that goes by in which you don't remind us that Sirius Black might be lurking around the corner waiting with a butcher knife and a nasty curse! It's time you started lightening up! The kids aren't gonna die if they go see a match of Quidditch! That stadium will have more Aurors guarding it then Azkaban will ever have!"

Augusta hadn't looked convinced in the least and the argument had carried on for quite a few more hours since the kids had joined Algie's protest as well. The elder witch had ended up relenting, seeing as the kids had threatened to run away and go see the match on their own if they were forbidden from going.

"So, you might as well let us go then have us sneaking around and left to our own devices," Heidi had threatened. "Heaven knows we're not too familiar with the London streets."

The elder woman had bowed her head in resignation and agreed to let them go, however, there were rules.

"You will be accompanied at all times by an adult! There will be no running around, no talking to strangers, no arguing amongst yourself, you will not leave the group unless accompanied by one of the adults..." and the list went on and on up until 120 something things they weren't allowed to do, but the kids didn't care! They were going to finally see a Quidditch match! Black be screwed, they were not passing this one out.

So, seven p.m., sharp, the kids were all dressed up and ready, their backpacks packed with food and junk food, in case the match went on for days, like some apparently did. Only the three wizarding adults were coming along, since they didn't want to risk having to look after so many people. Augusta had taken the liberty of owling Dumbledore the previous day, and requested that he send some escorts for the twins, which the occupants of the manor where anxiously waiting for.

Finally, after what felt like ages, the flames of the fire-place burned bright emerald, and out into the hallway of the Longbottom estate, stepped non other then Albus Dumbledore himself, followed shortly by Minerva McGonagall.

Dumbledore smiled merrily at the shocked faces of the assembled crowd and greeted them jovially.

"I am terribly sorry for the delay, however I was finding it rather difficult to locate the other half of my favorite socks, which I have worn to every Quidditch match I have ever been to, and I found it rather thorny to part with the tradition."

The occupants of the house shared a look and grinned broadly. Dudley could relate perfectly with the man's pain, he himself would never go to a football match without his lucky aquamarine-blue hat.

"Professor McGonagall, you're coming with us to a Quidditch match?" Diana asked surprised.

"One of my former students is a Chaser for the Falmouth Falcons and he has extended and invitation to go see the match, and since it was such a convenient timing, I decided to accept," McGonagall said in her defense.

"The Falmouth Falcons also happen to be Minerva's favorite Quidditch team," Dumbledore added merrily. Minerva shot him a fowl look which the ancient wizard completely ignored.

Heidi smiled at hearing the news, it seemed like she'd just found a team worth playing for.

"Can we go now," Dudley asked getting bored of the tedious small talk.

"Certainly," Dumbledore said. "We ca floo directly to the stadium, since the ministry has opened up a floo network for discretion's sakes. After all, it would look suspicious to the non-magical inhabitants of London city, if an absurdly large number of people went to the Wembley football stadium for no apparent reason."

"Alright, Algie, Enid, you two take care of Neville and Dudley," Augusta said, taking charge of the operation. "I'll take Hermione, and the girls go with the two professors. Remember the rules!" the elder woman warned.

"Yes man," the kids chorused and went to sit besides their respective escort.

Diana hurried off towards professor McGonagall, and hugged the elder woman, who indulged her for a few seconds then warned her to behave properly and responsibly. Heidi sighed in defeat and made her way towards the smiling headmaster.

Algie and Enid were the first to leave, accompanied by Neville and Dudley, then Hermione and Augusta, and lastly, the twins and the two professors.

The kids stepped out of the floo network to be greeted by the sight of one of the most packed places they had ever seen. The stadium was gigantic, and had about a hundred thousand seats, and of course, about a few hundred Aurors were swooping around the place and inspecting the people which were pouring out of the fire-places. One of them came to inspect their group and let them through after sharing a quick greeting with the adults and a respectful nod to Dumbledore.

The group of people then slowly began making their way towards the stands, and the girls were delighted to hear that Algie had booked them all tickets for the top row, although Dudley and Diana looked a little nervous, the concept of finally seeing their first professional Quidditch match blew their worries right out of their minds as they eagerly followed Algie up the stairs.

At long last, the group emerged out onto the stands and the kids were struck silent as they saw the stadium almost packed with wizards. The first few stands might have been empty, since you probably couldn't even see anything from down below, but the top three stands were crammed.

The kids slowly made their way towards their seats and sat down, anxiously awaiting the start of the game.

It took them about an 'hour and twenty-five minutes of tedious waiting and small talk (which consisted mostly of McGonagall grilling the kids on their summer assignments and one of Uncle Algie's barmy war adventures) for the game to start. The stadium was suddenly engulfed in darkness and the crowd was struck silent for one blissful second, before the commentator of the match boomed in a magically enhanced voice:

"WELCOME, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, TO THE FOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIRST EDITION OF THE BRITISH NATIONAL CHAMPIONS LEAGUE!"

The crowd erupted in cheers as the commentator proceeded to announce the teams.

"TODAY'S MATCH WILL BE PLAYED BETWEEN TWO OF OUR MOST PROMISING QUIDDITCH TEAMS! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, GIVE IT UP FOR THE WIMBPURNE WASPS AND FALMOUTH FALCONS!"

As the commentator stopped talking, two sets of Quidditch teams made their way on the fields, one entering from the left wearing horizontal yellow and black stripes with a wasp on the chest, and one from the right, dressed in dark gray and white attire with a falcon emblem. The players parted and started flying haphazardly around as the crowd erupted in uncontrollable cheers and howls, some people even raising flags with their supported team's emblem. Professor McGonagall managed to surprise them all by giving a loud cheer when the Falcons made their entrance; she managed to compose herself quickly and tried as best she could to look completely uninterested for the rest of the game, but that didn't stop the kids from gaping bewildered at her for a few seconds.

The players did a few more spectacular dives, then proceeded to arrange themselves in the standard Quidditch-start-formation and patiently waited for the match's referee to make his way towards them.

While on stand-by, McGonagall said:

"See, the one on the right with the long blond hair wrapped in a pony-tail," she pointed at a tall, bulky blond guy with caramel-colored skin. "That is Erik Skids, my former student," she announced smugly.

"He's not a natural blond," Diana commented.

"No, he's a brunet," McGonagall confirmed.

"AND THEY'RE OFF!" The commentator boomed, and the crowd erupted in cheers as the Wasps chaser grabbed the Quaffle and bolted for the hoops of the opposite team.

They were so fast, amazingly so, that you could barely distinguish a few blurry figures zigzagging the field, like little flies circling a gleaming lamp.

Dudley and Neville were on the edge of their seats desperately trying to get a glimpse of what was going on, while cheering for the Falcons while Algie had chosen to side with the Wasps and was quite proud when the first goal of the match went to them.

"WHAT A GOAL LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" the commentator cheered, and Algie joined in by adding an:

"I told you they were the best team!"

Minerva shot him a fowl look.

"Oh, stuff it! I know perfectly well that you'd be cheering for the Ballycastle Bats if they were playing the Wasps!" Neville accuse, and Algie nodded eagerly.

"Well, the Bats are the best Quidditch team in all of England!" he enthused.

"Are not!" Neville countered.

Algie was about to contradict his nephew by pointing out that the Bats had managed to make it in the British finals and actually won the Championship last year, when Heidi yelled:

"There's the Snitch!"

The Longbottom males stopped arguing at once and McGonagall squinted her eyes while looking wildly around and asked: "Where?"

"There!" Heidi rose to her feet and pointed at the far left hoop on the Falcon's side. "That idiotic Keeper is standing right beside it!"

"GOAL FOR THE FALCONS!" the commentator announced drawing the crowd's attention towards the Wasps' hoops. Minerva and the kids cheered enthusiastically while Algie cursed colorfully.

"Algie!" Enid warned.

"Sorry dear," the man apologized looking sheepish.

"AD THE WASPS HAVE REGAINED POSSESSION OF THE QUAFFLE AND ARE HEADING TOWARDS THE HOOPS LIKE MAD MEN! OH, AND COULD THIS BE? YES, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE FALCON SEEKER HAS SEEN THE SNITCH!"

"Finally!" Heidi huffed while throwing a disappointed look the seeker's way. "Malfoy could spot the snitch faster then these guys!"

"Hey, don't even go there," Neville pleaded.

"Whose Malfoy?" asked Dudley.

"Diana's ex," answered Heidi.

"Oh," the boy nodded, then after a few seconds proceeded to bellow: "How DARE you be more pathetic then that prat!"

The Wasps seeker suddenly took a spectacular turn and dove right in front of the Falcons' seeker, momentarily distracting him as the Wasp proceeded to dive and stretch up his hand to catch the tiny ball. The Falcon seeker didn't remain out of ply for long, as he recovered and plummeted after the other seeker and reached him in no time.

"LOOK AT THOSE SEEKERS GO!" the commentator cheered, but, despite his enhanced voice, the sound only registered as something within the background as the stadium erupted into uncontrollable roars and howls as the fans started singing and screaming the teams' name and egging them on, while both seeker circled each other and dropped to the ground at an unbelievable speed. They both reached out a hand and...

A red light suddenly resounded in the stadium and a panicked voice managed to effectively distract everyone's attention from the game as it shouted:

"STOP THE GAME! SIRIUS BLACK IS IN THE BUILDING! EVERYBODY RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

It only took about half a second for the people to react. One minute they were all cheering happily for their favorite team then the other, they were screaming their throats out and scrambling around the stadium bumping into people and trying to get to the exits as fast as possible.

Algie, Enid and Augusta grabbed a hold of the boys and Hermione and rushed them towards the exit disappearing amongst the crowd, while Dumbledore placed a firm grip on Minerva and Heidi's shoulder holding them in place.

"Augusta!" he cried, but the elder Longbottom woman and her escort had vanished from sight.

"Albus, shouldn't we follow?" Minerva asked confused.

"My dear professor, it would be foolish to try and fight your way out of this crowd," Dumbledore said. "I believe that the safest way to go is to wait for the masses to pass, and calmly proceed to the exit afterwards."

"Professor, we're with Dumbledore," Heidi reminded a fee which Minerva seemed to have just realized herself, as she visibly relaxed.

"I believe the road has cleared enough," Dumbledore said as he began rising from his seat. Minerva and the twins were soon to follow.

The group quickly made their way towards the stairs and descended to the semi-last floor where they came face to face with the two Quidditch teams which were advancing towards the exit, brooms still in hand.

"Professor," Erik Skids, the blond Falcon chaser called.

"Erik, why on earth have you not left?" asked Minerva.

"We weren't allowed to leave on brooms of fear that we'd be spotted by Muggles," Erik said. "I'm glad you decided to come professor."

"Skids!" the Falcon captain snapped.

"Just a minute sir," Erik shouted and pulled Minerva aside. "Actually professor, the falcon team sponsors have been wondering if-"

"HEIDI! DIANA!" a loud and familiar voice coming from the other side of the stadium drew the kids attention, and the group turned to notice that, one row below, where all the crowd was still pushing madly towards the exit, standing on top of the bard and waving at them madly, was non other than Hermione Granger.

"Hermione!" The twins chorused and rushed towards the side bar.

"We'll meat you downstairs!" Heidi screamed, motioning for Hermione to go.

"Are you Ok?" Hermione screamed not understanding a word.

"BLACK IS DOWNSTAIRS!" Shouted someone from amidst the crowd, and suddenly, the mob of people which were pushing to get on the stairs, retreated back, with a panicked scream, and the ones at the very end, knocked straight into Hermione, sending her toppling over the bar, face first.

Hermione gave a piercing scream and Diana was soon to join in, while Heidi began wildly searching the place for anything helpful. She spotted the broom in Erik's hand, and not giving it a second thought, she hurtled the broom out of his hand and jumped over the edge.

She mounted the broom mid-fall, and zoomed towards Hermione with an unbelievable speed.

Dumbledore pulled out his wand and was ready to cast a spell, but soon found out that he needn't have bothered, since Heidi managed to grab a hold of Hermione's hand, and lung her up onto the broom. Heidi heaved in a sigh of relief as she took a firm grip on her friend which had enveloped her in a choking embrace and was shivering madly.

"You ok?" Heidi asked, as she absentmindedly noticed the word Firebolt written on top of the broom handle. Hermione merely managed to nod her head, as Heidi proceeded to lower them to the ground.

Diana nearly fainted with relief, while Minerva let out a loud and sufferable breath.

"Does that girl play Quidditch?" asked the Falcon captain whose attention had been drawn by Diana's earlier cry of distress.

"Yes," Minerva answered weekly. "Unfortunately," she added as she heaved in another sigh.

A black dirty dog toddled its way along the still gawking crowd and came to a halt at Diana's feet, brushing its wet nose against her palm.

Diana jumped slightly surprised and spun around to look at the dirty thing. "Ah, you scared me." She gave the dog a slight scowl, then swung her arms around it and hugged the filthy creature. "Oh, my god that was scary," she gushed and sniffed slightly, and then suddenly pulled back startling the dog. "Come one, let's got to Hermione," she said and hoisted the dog up in her arms.

"MOVE!" she screamed at the assembled crowd and ran straight through the line which gave way upon her command.

Dumbledore and Minerva were soon to follow, and it wasn't long before they got to the stadium where Heidi and Hermione had landed.

Augusta and Enid were fussing over the poor girl who looked as white as a ghost.

"Hermione, are you alright?" Diana let the dog go and ran up to her friend.

"I'll live," Hermione said weekly. Diana looked slightly relieved, but still chose to swing her arms around the girl and choke her, up until the former said:

"What's that smell?" she asked sniffing at her blouse.

Diana pulled back and sniffed her blouse as well. "Oh, it's Fluffy's fault," she said and trusted her head in the filthy dog's direction.

Hermione shot the dog an appalled look.

"Is it yours?" she asked.

"Of course not," Heidi said.

"I suppose it is," Diana said.

"Diana!" Heidi warned.

"What?" the red-head asked peeved.

"Mom is not going take that _thing _in!"

"Actually, I kind of like him," Dudley said as he came to stand besides the dog. "Could do with a bath though."

"Not you too," Heidi wined.

The dog barked happily and wagged its tail as Dudley proceeded to pet him on the head.

Heidi threw the dog one last appalled look and said: "I better not catch you chewing on my shoes!"

-OOOOOOOO-

**AN**: Well, that's the first chapter. As I imagined you've realized, the pool result was to post the chapters as I write them. I know it is kind of cheep what I did there with Heidi, but the concept of a career in professional Quidditch excites me (though I don't know if I'll do it yet, just keeping the door open). I don't know when the next chapter will be up, since I'll have exams for the following three weeks, but, that doesn't mean that inspiration won't strike me and I won't drop everything in favor of writing, so, yeah, depends on my mood. Tell me what you think of the story so far. Cheers!

PS: Rating might change as the story progresses, I'm not sure yet what's it gonna be.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Fluffy goes to Hogwarts**

"LINSY! GET THIS MENACE OUT OF MY KITCHEN AT ONCE!" Petunia screamed for what must have been the third time the day, and as per usual, Fluffy, Diana's new pet dog, came skidding out of the kitchen doors face covered in whip-cream and tail waging madly with excitement.

"Hey there dirty," Diana greeted. "You better stop making mom mad or else she'll throw you out the door next time!" the red-haired warned.

"She's not kicking him out of my house!" Algie said defiantly.

"I do believe you don't live here anymore Algie!" snapped Augusta.

"That dog is a menace!" snarled Petunia once she came out of the kitchen. "And you should know he ruined my treacle-tart! So you get no desert for tonight!"

A good number of groans accompanied Petunia's statement and the occupants of the house turned to give Fluffy a disapproving glance.

Fluffy just continued wagging his tail and barked happily at them.

"Aw, but he's so cute!" Dudley commented.

Dudley, Diana, Neville and Algie had taken to the dog like butter on toast; they absolutely adored his playful personality, while the rest of the occupants of the house weren't so enchanted with his prankster like mannerism. But out of all the occupants of the house, Petunia hated him the most! Maybe it had something to do with the fact that whenever she was cooking something the dog always popped up and ruin everything, or that he'd had the audacity to pee on her flower-bed, or maybe it was the share fact that her shoes seemed to be the favorite munching toy for that blasted dog, meaning that no one else's shoes got ripped and turned to shreds every other day. The mutt had been in the house for barely a few days, and she was already running low on slippers, lets not forget those fancy red shoes which had cost her noting less than a fortune. Yes, she _hated_ the stupid mutt, and she couldn't wait to finally get her hands on him once the kids left for school! She'd teach him not to mess with her stuff!

Petunia sent the evil thing a reproachful glare. Fluffy lazily lifted its head to look in her direction, and upon seeing the murderous expression, scurried off to hide behind Dudley.

"What's wrong you?" Dudley asked.

"Mom, you're scaring him!" Diana accused.

"Now, now princess," Vernon chided. "Your mother is not the only one to blame here! That dog needs some training or he's got to go! Honestly, I woke up last night to find puke next to the bathroom door!"

"That's because you people forgot to leave the door open for him!" Diana protested. "Anyways I'll lend him to Hagrid once we're at school," the red-haired announced jovially. "He's tamed wilder beasts then him, so he'll be a prince charming by the time we bring him back next year. You'll only have Dobby to look after."

"Dobby can look after himself and is a lot more helpful then that _thing_," Petunia remarked.

"Are you sure this Hagrid guy is gonna look after Fluffy?" Dudley asked moodily. He was slightly irked because he wasn't the one to get to take Fluffy to school with him, but as Heidi remarked, Smeltings didn't allow pets to be brought in to school.

"Hagrid is going to take care of him like he was his own," Diana assured. "Now daddy," the red-haired turned her sweetest smile towards her father and Vernon braced himself, Diana never used that look unless she had an ulterior motive. "Our Hogwarts letters arrived yesterday!" she announced merrily. Vernon nodded still looking cautious. "And they said-" the red-haired fished in her pocket for the letter and walked over to her father still wearing _that look_. She handed him the letter. "We need signed permission from our parents to be able to visit the wizarding village of Hogsmead, which is located just a few short miles from the school! Think you could sign them for us?" she asked in her cutest puppy-dog expression ever.

Vernon let out a breath of relief. Well, that wasn't so bad, considering the scenarios he had in mind revolved around some obscure class or some other mystical bull or god only knows what other dangerous stuff the wizards studied. He smiled cheerfully back at his daughter and was just about to assure her that he would sign the forum when Missis Longbottom intervened.

"Absolutely not!" she said with a ton of finality.

"Why not?" both Vernon and Diana asked in confusion.

"Have you forgotten about Sirius Back?" Augusta shrieked outraged.

Diana gulped in response and Vernon suddenly realized what all the cute puppy-dog eyes were all about.

"You were trying to trick me into letting you go to this dangerous village while a killer was on the loose?" Vernon asked outraged.

"Oh, come one dad, all Hogwarts students from third year and above go to Hogsmead on weekends!" Diana protested. "Black will have a hard time following us around!"

"He might catch you!" Petunia insisted.

"Mom! I'm not gonna be the only third year to be banned from going to Hogsmead!" Diana wined.

"You won't be alone," Vernon assured. "Heidi'll stay with you!"

"As will Neville," Augusta added.

"Why am I getting banned? Black is not after me!" Neville protested.

"Augusta! He's a big boy now and can make his own bloody decisions!" Algie reminded.

"Apparently not, since he still has to rely on my signature to be allowed to step foot outside of Hogwarts!" the elder woman countered. "And Black could kidnap you in order to get to the girls!" Fluffy gave an angry growl of protest at hearing that.

"Mommy! Daddy! It's just a trip! A few hours a week!" Diana tried to convince them, but Vernon put his foot down.

"A few hours a week is too much of a risk!" He said determined.

"You're all being childish!" Dudley scolded them.

"No, it is you who is being childish by dis-considering the danger which would befall upon you because of your unhealthy obsession with a village you have yet to step foot in! You might not even like it!"

"Now you're over-exaggerating!" Algie said.

"DAD!" Diana tried one last time, feeling tears start to rise up in her eyes because for once in her life, her father wasn't giving in to her request.

"I'm sorry princess," Vernon said and turned away from her.

Tears started poring down from Diana's eyes at the blatant refusal of her fathers, follows shortly by and outburst of "I hate you!" which made a vase at the end of the room shatter into pieces and the departure of the red-haired girl from the room.

Dudley, Neville and Fluffy were soon to follow, while Algie remained behind to annoy the Dursleys and Augusta for being so mean to a bunch of 13 year old kids.

-OOOOOO-

Diana burst into the Longbottom library while crying hysterically and proceeded to bombard Hermione with the latest cruelties which her father had bestowed upon her.

Hermione didn't look sympathetic, and she had a feeling that Heidi wouldn't be cheering her on like Dudley and Neville were doing either.

"You're behaving like a spoiled brat!" Hermione reprimanded.

"But you're allowed to go to Hogsmead!" Diana protested.

"Actually, for your information, I am not!" Hermione assured. "I didn't ask my parent since I knew you three would be banned from going, so I figured that going by my self would be meaningless, so I didn't bother."

"But it's Hogsmead!" Diana protested, stuck somewhere between annoyance at her friend for giving up on such a trilling adventure and gratitude for deciding to stick with her through the boring weekends.

"I'm sure it will still be there next year!"

"Hermione, you're either the best friend in the world, or a complete masochist," Dudley commented while sending her an awed look.

"I'm not sure if I should be insulted or take that as a compliment," Hermione said. Dudley merely shrugged.

"She _is_ the best friend in the world!" Heidi assured poaching her head from behind a corner. "Could you kindly make your way over here for a minute, I want to ask you something."

"What's the matter?" Diana asked as she and the group made their way towards Heidi.

"Well while you were off fighting a loosing battle with dad about whether we'll go to Hogsmead or not, Hermione and I have been researching all day long about Psychopathology and the insanity that wizards suffer after being subjected to a prolonged version of the Cruciatus to see if we could find a connection between them."

"So, have you found anything?" Neville asked cautiously, not daring to lift his hopes up.

"Nope," Heidi sighed disappointed. "But that's mostly because there isn't a single darn thing in these Magic books about any of the symptoms that a Cruciatus victim displays! Because, according to this book," Heidi lifted up a rather thick book which read _Psychopathology, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,_ "Mental Disorders, e.g., insanity can manifest itself in different forms, according to what is causing the disease."

"Of course you wouldn't find anything on the Cruciatus in there," Neville said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "From what I've hear, the aftereffects of the spell are so nerve wrecking that some people can't even stand to read about them, so the ministry banned them from the public. You need a special signed permission from the ministry to get any related material about the dark arts, or you could try purchasing them on the black market, but that one's really tricky, not to mention dangerous."

Heidi bowed her head with a frustrated sighed.

"Well, we'll have to get our hands on one of those if we want to get anywhere with our research," she said gloomily.

"Maybe we can try and sneak out tomorrow when we go to Diagon Alley for our stuff," Dudley suggested.

"We're not going anywhere tomorrow," Heidi said. "Missis Longbottom and Enid are going shopping for our school supplies."

"They're not taking us?" Diana asked outraged.

"No. They said it would be safe if we just staid home," Hermione said.

"Oh, this is wonderful," Diana said sarcastically. "First I'm not allowed to go to Hogsmead, and now I'm banned from Diagon Alley too! I hope they catch Black really soon so I can escape my prison!"

"Don't worry honey, they're not banning us from Hogsmead," Heidi assured a mischievous little smile playing on her lips.

"But they did just that," Neville reminded.

The brunet lifted herself off the floor and said in a pleasant tone: "Oh, don't worry, I've found a way around that." She winked mysteriously at them.

-OOOOOO-

"Mutatiom res" Diana mumbled while waving her wand around randomly.

"No, no, Diana, it's mutati_o_, there's no 'm' at the end of the word," Tom chided. "And what's with that silly waving around? Did you forget the wand pattern again?"

"No I didn't!" Diana protested.

It was 11:30 and Diana was futilely trying to learn a concealment charm with Tom's aid to be able to mask the diary from her sister and friends once she got to school. She'd been excited with the prospect of finally learning some new spells, and of course spending some extra time with Tom, but after half-an-hour of nothing but tedious wand waving and Tom telling her she got the name of the spell wrong…again, it was getting tiring.

"I'm just bored, I wish we could do something else," she sighed miserably.

"There's not much else we can do here," Tom remarked taking a seat and studying the red-haired carefully.

"We could change the scenery?" Diana suggested. "Or take a walk outside," she added in a barely audible voice as her head dropped tiredly on the wooded Ravenclaw table.

Tom sighed in annoyance and reminded. "I can't keep you here long enough for us to take a walk."

"What would happen if you did?" Diana asked suddenly lifting her head off the table to give him and expectant look.

"I don't know," Tom answered bluntly. "I've never exactly brought anyone here before," he admitted. And that was half way truth. He'd never exactly brought someone here, but he did have a theory with regards to what would happen if he kept a person here long enough.

"So, is there a slight possibility that you might not die?" Diana asked hesitantly.

"Perhaps," Tom said. "Why, do you want to kill me?" he asked jokingly.

"NO!" Diana hasted in assuring. "I would never..!" then her expression turned to pure horror. "Why? Have I outstayed my welcome? Are you feeling alright?"

Tom let out a bark of laughter and placed both of his hands on Diana's shoulders, forcing the red-haired back in her seat.

"No, of course not," he assured. "But you seam slightly tired today," he remarked as he cupped her face in his hands and inspected the dark rimes which were beginning to form under her eyes.

Diana's breath caught in her troth as Tom's face drew closer to hers, gluing his forehead to hers.

"Hmm, you have a slight fever," Tom remarked, but Diana vaguely heard him, as her eyes fixed themselves on those beautiful lips of his, and she was stuck wondering on whether they were just as soft as they seamed to be.

"I think I might have overworked you for today milady," Tom purred seductively and brushed the tip of his nose to hers. "I hope you don't mind."

"I don't mind," Diana answered in a faint voice. Her heart was hammering wildly and her thoughts were all over the place, the only thing coherent in her mind at the moments was Tom Riddle and those lustrous lips of his. He was so close, if she leaned slightly forward…

Tom suddenly pulled back to give her a dazzling smile, his hands released their hold on her face and Diana found herself falling forward right onto his broad chest. Tom wrapped his arms around her while giving a slight chuckle.

"I think that's about enough for one day, young lady," Tom said. "It's about time you went to bed."

"No," Diana wined, not feeling up to leaving Tom's comfortable embrace.

"There's always tomorrow," Tom assured her. "And besides, a lady does need her beauty sleep," he winked at her, making Diana go bright red. She reluctantly nodded her head and let herself be enveloped by the familiar dizziness which always seemed to accompany her every time she made a journey to and out of the diary, and soon after, she landed on her comfy bed in the Longbottom estate.

-OOOOOO-

It was 12:00 AM, midnight. Hermione had left a few good hours ago, taking with her the empty bottle of the Draught of Living Death. She was probably off to dreamland in her room, firm under the impression that she herself was out cold for the night. Unfortunately for Hermione, tonight was a little different.

Heidi hastily rose from her bed and quickly pulled on a pair of jeans and a T-shit with a jacket on top. She carefully opened her drawer and pulled out a notebook, her invisibility cloak and grabbed her wand from under the pillow. She pulled the cloak over her head and then hasted for the door and, as silently as she could, cracked it open and peered in the hallway.

There was no one there. As expected. Who in their rightful mind would be awake at this time of night? Heidi tiptoed her way towards the stairs and down into the parlor and was nearly at the main door when, suddenly, a wet nose brushed against her palms.

Heidi jumped barely managing to catch herself before she screamed. She glared down in surprise to come face-to-face with Fluffy, Diana's pet dog.

"Oh, it's only you," Heidi remarked somewhat relieved and turned away from the mutt hardly giving it a second glance. She grasped a hold of the frond door handle, cracking it open and was about to make a quick escape when she felt something holding her in place.

She looked down to see that Diana's pet dog had taking a firm grip on her cloak and was trying to pull her back.

"Seriously?" Heidi asked peeved. The dog whined in response and tried to pull her away from the door. "Sorry mutt, but I've got no time for you!" Heidi turned her wand on the dog, who gave her a baffled look before falling victim to the girl's silent stunner. The brunet quickly freed the cloak from the dog's grasp, while throwing wiled looks around and praying that none of the adults would catch her out of bed so late in the night.

Finally, she was free of that mangy dog, and in no time at all, she was out of the house.

She smirked triumphantly. There were a few wards present here and there, but nothing to keep someone already keyed into them in or out without their permission, and there most certainly didn't seem to be any alarm wards.

If it weren't for the fidelius, he would have been sure that the Longbottom old hag would have been ambushed by Black already. Stupid cow! And she was the one whining all day about the need to be precarious. Well, it worked all the best in his favor, so he had no idea what he was wining about so much.

He reached the end of the wards. A quick jump over the fence and freedom! He was good to apparate. Only problem was…he wasn't exactly sure if Heidi's week body would be able to handle the pressure. What if he splinched her? He could always use the notebook as a portkey. What if he somehow managed to drop the note upon the impact or lost hold of it? Should he take the Knight Buss? No, all the drivers he'd had the pleasure of meeting so far were worse nags then 5 year olds. He'd have to risk apparition. And he'd better do it now before dawn caught up with his random rambling.

He took a deep breath and pictured his destination clearly in his mind. It wasn't hard, he'd been to that place thousands of times in his life. Then he pictured Heidi standing right next to that so familiar shop and after another deep breath he was gone.

The sensation of something pulling at his naval while being sucked into a tube suddenly overwhelmed him, and before he knew it, his feet reached solid ground. The feeling of nausea overtook him and he staggered slightly as he tried to regain his balance and then remained perfectly still as he felt a slight steering from within.

Holding his breath, he turned slightly to inspect the girl sleeping on the bed right next to him. The brunet turned on her side, but didn't give any indication of waking, which caused an overwhelming feeling of relief to wash over him.

Truth be told, he was slightly irked at the girls share stupidity and brashness for dealing with a problem. Lets not mention the fact that she never actually took into account all of the potential consequences of her actions and therefore had to endure some serious penalties like the addiction problem she was having right now. And boy was she in for a nasty time.

But there was no time to dwell on such petty matters now. First thing's first. Heidi pulled out her notebook in order to check the address on the back and then lifted her head to survey Diagon Alley.

The place looked nothing next to spectacular as the moon light shone an unearthly bluish glow on the stony streets and neatly-kept shops which delimitated the alley way. Gringotts was still radiating pure white in the distance and a few lights could be seen here and there from some of the local bars. There were very few people walking around the place at the ungodly hour, most of them were hanging around pubs while the rest seemed to be heading to Gringotts, which was probably the only place open twenty-four-seven in the whole Alley.

Heidi tightened her hold on her invisibility cloak and turned away from the populated main street in favor for a dark and deathly quiet side road which looked more like a Muggle street than any.

While most of the wizards and witches of today lived amongst the Muggles in the big city or in a nice secluded Mansion or cottage by the country side, there were some of the extravagant types who preferred to live in wizarding communities far away from Muggles. There were of course wizarding communities like Hogsmead built for that specific purpose, and Diagon Alley itself housed one of the biggest wizarding communities in the whole of Britain, considering the fact that all the buildings which helped separate the alley from the Muggle world were inhabited by wizards.

_Hmm, let's see…nr 38, nr 39, nr 40! Gotcha_! Heidi grinned in excitement. She quickly made her way in the four stories high building and ran up to the last floor to apartment nr 11. She took off her invisibility cloak and knocked once.

If he remembered anything about the person who lived here, it was that he was a night creature rather than a day one, so he was sure his old friends wouldn't mind having visitors so late at night.

A few moments later, the door to the apartment was swung open, and out stepped a balding old man, with bushy eyebrows and a rather pronounced belly. He was wearing a 3 Button Black Tuxedo all complete with matching pants, a bowtie and a white shirt; a jet-black cape was flung over his left shoulder and a scowl was deeply carved on his face.

"Who are you?" the man grunted, making Heidi smirk. It wouldn't hurt the fat fart to brush up on his etiquettes.

"William, old friend," Heidi stepped forward and took hold of his left hand, making the man stiffen in the blink of an eye. "How nice it is to see you again."

-OOOOOO-

"So," Missis Longbottom started. "As you are all aware of, third years are given a list of elective courses which they can study throughout their remaining years at Hogwarts. I've already given you a brief description of what each new subject is about, and now, I would like to know who is taking what subject so that I my know what books to purchase for each of you."

"Can I drop Potions," Diana asked hopefully.

"For the last time, NO!" Augusta snapped. "Potions is an obligatory subject up until sixth year."

"Darn," Diana swore.

"Watch your tongue young lady!" Augusta reprimanded.

"Now, now, no need to start arguing amongst each other," Enid said. "So kids," she turned a big smile onto the five assembled children. "Have you decided what you're taking this year?"

"Can't we just come along and buy the books ourselves?" Diana asked. "It will be one hell of a pile for just the two of you," she added hopefully.

"Don't worry," Enid brushed her comment aside. "Shrinking charms were invented for the exact purpose of making shopping more fun." She winked at her and Diana sighed in defeat.

"I'm taking all of them," Hermione said in a boastful voice.

"Mione, no offence, but your head is gonna blow up if you feed it any more books," Diana said cheekily.

"Well, I'll let you know that your comment is extremely offensive!" Hermione snapped. "And I shall take it as such!"

"Hey!" Diana wined. "I told you I meant no offence!"

"Diana and I will be taking Divination and Care of Magical Creatures," Neville said.

"Will you stop being such a prat!" Heidi snapped at her sister, then turned to the two elder women and said: "I'll be taking Arithmancy, Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures."

"Alright," Augusta nodded then she and Enid turned to leave.

Diana pulled on Heidi's sleeve and motioned towards the retreating backs of the two elder woman, but Heidi staid firm in place and ignored her while the two made their way to the fireplace and flooed away.

"Why didn't you call them back?" Diana asked.

"Why would I do that?" asked Heidi.

"You know the whole Hogsmead thing!" Diana snapped.

Heidi gave her a strange look.

"Weren't you going to convince them to let us go?" asked Diana.

"Why my charming sister, what ever gave you that idea?" Heidi asked grinning mischievously at her.

"But you said we would go," Neville reminded.

"Yes," Heidi nodded looking exasperate at the confused faces of the four. "But I never said we'd go with their permission!"

"How do you plan on making it to Hogsmead without permission?" Hermione asked.

Heidi sighed in annoyance and pulled out a piece of parchment which Fred and George had kindly passed on to her last year. "With this!" she exclaimed. "I found a whole bunch of secret tunnels which lead outside the school and into Hogsmead. It'll be a piece of cake sneaking out!" Diana's and Neville's eyes lit up as she saw the marauders map, while Hermione threw the piece of paper an annoyed look.

"But-" Hermione protested

"Herms!" Heidi placed a hand on her shoulder to stop the other girl from speaking. She pulled her curly-haired friend towards her and began guiding her in the general direction of the library while saying: "Frankly, I was going to try and convince the adults to let us go just for the soul sake of leaving you a clean conscious," she admitted. "But then I started thinking that, a) that would requite too much work on my part, and b) if the adults _do,_ by some twisted miracle, signed the permission forms, they'll be worried sick and will most likely ask the Headmaster to assign someone to supervise our visits, right?"

Hermione nodded, seeing the logic in Heidi's words.

"Now, as you can imagine, the supervisor is hardly gonna let us run around and explore the place as much as we like to," Heidi continued.

"But he'd be trying to keep us safe!" Hermione insisted.

"True," Heidi passed. "But, if given the chance, would you really approve of and escort accompanying you everywhere for the whole bloody weekend?"

Hermione shock her head. "It would be rather annoying," she admitted.

"Exactly!" Heidi nodded. "And frankly I find the whole idea a big insult to our intelligence! It'd be just them same if they said we lack the common sense of staying out of harms way, and frankly, who's dumb enough to go purposely looking for trouble?"

"But isn't the whole sneaking around thing just asking for trouble?" Hermione insisted.

Heidi sighed disappointedly at her. "Herms, _we_ are intelligent people," she said slowly, "_we_ have a map of the whole school which tells us exactly where everyone is, _we_ have an invisibility cloak…"

"The cloak can't hide our smell," Hermione persisted. "Dudley proved that when he tried to sneak up on Fluffy and got duped instead."

"We have wands!" Heidi said in a slight impatient voice. "And we have a whole library bound to have at least one spell book which can mask our scents!"

"But-"

"Oh, come one Mione!" Diana whined. "Stop trying to find excuses! It'll be great fun trying to sneak out of the castle!"

"We could get caught!" Hermione snapped.

"Diana I'd appreciate it if you staid out of this!" Heidi cautioned but the red-haired apparently didn't hear her as she lifted the Marauders map up in Hermione's face and said:

"We won't!"

"Diana!" Heidi warned.

"Well what about Hogsmead then?" Hermione challenged. "We don't have a map of that!"

"We could make one! A map of Hogsmead I mean," Heidi said sweetly suddenly struck by a brilliant idea.

She knew that he friend was hardly gonna relent to breaking rules if there wasn't a good enough excuse, and she'd planned on sweet talking her into the matter. That was up until Diana stuck her nose in their conversation, so that plan had gone down the drain. But if she'd remembered anything about her friend last year was her complete dedication to a cause and that rules could be broken as long as it was for educational purposes. Add her extreme obvious respect for the person who created the Marauders map and that insatiable desire to prove herself to the equation and she was bound to have a good enough argument to persuade her friend of ignoring the _small_ detail of them sneaking out.

Heidi watched closely as her curly-haired friend thought the matter through.

"Are you sure we'll be able to create such a map?" Hermione asked doubtfully.

"Why Hermione, you're insulting the smartest group of people Hogwarts has ever seen in a long time," Heidi said in an arrogant voice. "There's nothing we can't do so long as we put our minds up to it!" Hermione's chest pumped up with pride.

_Success! _Heidi cheered mentally as she proceeded to further convince Hermione that sneaking into Hogsmead would be a good idea.

-OOOOOO-

September the first finally caught up with the residents of the Longbottom estate, and, as per expected, the members of the house were up and running about in circles since 7 PM.

"Heidi, have you seen my blue top?" Diana shouted from upstairs.

"I've got it in my bag, so hurry up already!" Heidi snapped at her sister.

Hermione, Heidi and Augusta were waiting at the foot of the steps alongside a disgruntled looking Fluffy, because he was forced to wear a leash up until he got to Hagrid's. Petunia and Vernon had left the day before to drive Dudley off to Smeltings and agreed to take the Grangers home as well, so there were only the three Longbottom adults and the quartet left in the house.

Dudley and Algie finally came down the stairs looking rather flustered. Uncle Algie had Trevor the toad secured in his hand and a large grin on his face.

"We've found the little scalawag," Algie proclaimed proudly. "He was hiding behind the sink of the third floor bathroom."

"About time!" Augusta snapped. She then took hold of Heidi and Hermione's hands and guided them towards the exit. Neville and Algie were soon to follow.

Diana hurried down the steps and grabbed Fluffy by his leash and pulled him after her, with Enid following shortly behind her, the girl's luggage secure in her grasp.

"Come on Fluffy! We need to make a run for it or we'll be late!" Diana hasted.

They stepped outside the house to be greeted by the sight of two old-fashioned dark green cars, each of which was driven by a furtive-looking wizard wearing a suit of emerald velvet.

"Where did those come from?" Hermione asked.

"The Ministry of Magic saw fit to lend us these so that we can make it on time to the station," Augusta answered.

"That's rather kind of them," Heidi remarked.

"Come now! No time for chit-chat, get in the car!" Missis Longbottom prompted.

Heidi and Hermione were ushered in the back of the first car by Augusta while Diana, Neville, Algie and Enid boarded the second car, and off they were.

The ride was barely a half an hour drive, since the Longbottom estate was located right outside of London city, and those cars, despite their shabby looks, could reach up to quite a mind blowing speed. The group arrived at Kings Cross with almost and hour to spare before the train left, so, the group took their time with getting pass the barrier between platform nine and ten, since Augusta was paranoid of Muggles spotting them passing through.

Algie was the first to crack and he grabbed Neville's hand and pulled him through the barrier at a run, followed closely by Diana, Fluffy and Enid. Augusta was quick to pursue, dragging Hermione and Heidi along with them, and the elder witch made sure to snap at Algie for his childish demeanor for the next ten minutes, up until half the station was stuck gaping at the two as they bicker.

"The train is gonna leave without us!" Neville snapped at them.

The two adults glared reproachfully at each other for a few more seconds and then proceeded to help the kids in hoisting their luggage towards and empty compartment, while Diana fought vehemently over handing Fluffy up to Algie to be taken in the animal compartment.

"He's a good dog!" she heatedly argued. "He hasn't as much as snarled at anyone he's meet these past few weeks, he's not gonna start biting people now!"

"The kids might get scared of him," Enid tried to reason with the girl, but the red-haired stubbornly held on to Fluffy's collar and refused to let go. The adults ended up relenting seeing as they didn't have much time left to argue with the red-head before the train left.

"Alright, you four better listen up!" Augusta said "As you all know, Sirius Black has been at large for over three months and has yet to be caught by the guards of Azkaban! Furthermore, he is thought to be heading to Hogwarts with the soul purpose of extracting revenge for his master's downfall," here she shot a meaningful look the twins' way. "As far as we know, he is thought to be barking mad and extremely dangerous!" Fluffy wined in protest. "Therefore, I want you four to promise me you won't go looking for trouble this year! That you'll stay inside Hogwarts, out of harms way and concentrate solemnly on your studies! Leave Black to the Dementors!"

Neville shuddered at hearing the name of the Azkaban guards.

"Don't worry Missis Longbottom, we'll be at our best behavior this year," Heidi promised and the other three were quick to nod their heads in agreement.

Augusta smile approvingly at them, then the adults hugged each of the children in turn and exited the train. The quartet scurried off to the window and waved their good-byes to the Longbottom family as the train began its excruciatingly long journey towards Hogwarts.

-OOOOOO-

**AN**: I need some constructive criticism here people, because I think my writing style had dropped since I've started POA, and I'd like to know what exactly is it that you guys think I should improve on. Description, dialog, grammar, anything you have a problem with, let me know ok?


	3. Chapter 3

**AN**: Dumbledore's speech is taken directly from the book.

**Chapter 3: The Dementor**

Trevor, Neville's troublesome old toad – which unfortunately happened to be a gift from Uncle Algie, and therefore had quite a sentimental value for the boy – didn't waste a second of the kids distraction and scurried of out of the compartment as the quartet were waving their goodbyes, and it was a few good hours later that any of the kids remarked the ugly thing's absence.

"Uncle Algie is going to kill me!" Neville wailed as he emptied his trunk on the seats.

"I doubt he'll kill you for a toad," Heidi muttered.

"Nev, I think Fluffy's on to your toad!" Diana said from the hallway. Fluffy was wagging its tail vigorously as he desperately pulled on Diana's robs.

"Really, Fluffy?" Neville turned tearful eyes towards the frantic dog and watched as Fluffy released Diana's robes, barked once and then set off down the corridor.

"Come one!" Diana prompted as she rushed after Fluffy. Neville wasn't fare behind.

"I suggest you stay here Herms and guard our luggage," Heidi said. As soon as Hermione nodded her head, the brunet rushed down the corridor after her sister and Neville.

Fluffy led Neville and Diana right through the next compartment while Heidi struggled to catch up to them. She reached the door of the next compartment and hurriedly pulled it open, rushing in without a second thought and, unfortunately, managed to bump straight into someone.

She toppled backwards, nearly managing to bang her head against the wall, but someone grabbed her elbow just in time and pulled her forward into a strong embrace. A muffled voice was heard coming from between her left shoulder.

"Heidi, I'm so glad to see you!" the person exclaimed and pulled back slightly to reveal the brilliant smile of one Cedric Diggory.

Heidi instantly tensed at seeing the older boy.

"I thought you were avoiding me," Cedric said jokingly.

"No, no, I wasn't," Heidi hasted in assuring, but on the inside she was cursing her stupidity. Had she been that obvious? "What gave you that idea?" she asked slightly nervous.

"Because you mysteriously vanished off of the face of the earth last year after our match was over," Cedric remarked and Heidi started fumbling on her feet and avoiding eye contact. She distinctly noted that Diggory was still hanging on to her elbow, as if fearing that if he'd let go, she'd bolt from the place, which wasn't such a bad idea. "That was a spectacular catch, by the way."

"Thanks," Heidi mumbled and glued her eyes to what looked like a chewing gum stuck on the compartment floor.

"I never exactly got around to congratulating you for that game," Cedric said.

"It's not a big deal," Heidi said in a week voice, feeling her cheeks worm up at the though of the disappointment the boy must have felt after the game.

"Oh, but it is!" Cedric insisted. "Playing against Slytherin was terrible! Those guys cheated left and right, and humiliated us by trying to appear weaker than they actually were. So, after that disaster, it was a relief to see that at least someone was still taking us serious and playing at their full potential." The boy explained. "I'm glad you didn't go easy on us."

"Why shouldn't I take you seriously, you did managed to beat Ravenclaw after all," Heidi reminded looking slightly puzzled.

"Yes, but the match with Ravenclaw was a close call, and after the disaster with Slytherin, my team got a bit demoralized. But after the match against your team, I managed to convince them that the Slytherins were the only ones who were taking us lightly and that didn't mean much to my house, since the Slytherins have always underestimated us. So we decided to train harder this year and prove our worth!"

"Hmm, playing on your housemates emotional side. That was rather sly of you," Heidi commented.

"I was only trying to lift their spirit up," Cedric said in his defense.

"Isn't that the Captain's job?" Heidi asked slightly amused, her previous anxiety forgotten.

"Of course it is," Cedric said, taking on a boastful tone. "Which so happens to be my job this year, among other things." He straightened up his collar slightly and Heidi, for the first time, noticed the yellow badge with a black P engraved on it proudly hanging from his chest.

"You were made a Prefect _and_ Captain of your Quidditch team?" Heidi exclaimed excited. "That's great! Congratulations!" she said, and, without thinking, she pushed herself up, grabbed a hold of his neck and kissed him on the cheek.

Cedric wrapped his arms around her and murmured a soft "Thank you" from between her shoulder blade.

The brunet suddenly pulled back with a start and excused herself: "I'm sorry! I got a little carried away!" while trying to get out of Cedric's embrace, but the boy tightened his hold on her.

"Don't worry about it," he said and then fixed her with a determined look. "Would you like to go out with me?" he asked nervously, but the determination refused to leave his eye.

"What?" Heidi stopped squirming and lifted her head to look at the boy in surprise.

"You're a third year this year right?" Diggory asked and Heidi nodded. "And you'll be allowed to go to Hogsmead. So, I was hoping that maybe you'd like to go with me," the boy asked casually, though there was a slight tremor to his voice.

Heidi stared surprised at the older boy while she mussed over his words. Did she want to go with him? The answer was yes! Who was she kidding? Of course she wanted to go with him! Only problem was, she didn't have her permission signed…so, going out the front door was out of the question. Damn!

"Yes," she found herself saying, and cursed mentally. "But, I'd have to ditch my sister, Nev and Herms first," she said, a plan slowly starting to form in her mind. "Since I promised them that we'd all go together our first time. But we could meet sometime later on, you know, so they wouldn't be angry with me for breaking our promise."

"That sounds great," Cedric said and gave her a dazzling smile. "You'll love Hogsmead, It's a wonderful little town," he assured.

"I'll take your word for it," Heidi said and smiled back at Diggory. Her eyes found his gray warm ones, and for a few short seconds that seemed to last and eternity, she found herself unable to move or see anything else but those intense, stormy eyes clouded with emotions which were running by so fast that Heidi didn't have time to figure out what they were. Cedric leaned slightly forward, and Heidi pushed herself upward, her arms found their way around his neck and pulled him towards her, up until the two were standing nose to nose.

Heidi's breath caught in her throat as Cedric's head tilted forward and she wondered whether he was finally going to kiss her this time. Nope, he kissed her on the cheek, an insignificant distance from her lips, but still not quite there yet. Damn! She closed her eyes in resignation.

There was a sudden yelp in the corridor as a much too familiar voice shouted: "GET OUT!" followed by a scream of agony.

Heidi and Cedric broke apart and Diggory straightened his robes while saying. "I better go and check that out."

Heidi nodded and said: "I'll come with you! That voice sounded too much like Hermione's for my liking."

-OOOOOOOO-

As soon as Heidi was out the door Hermione pulled out her Transfigurations text book and began re-reading chapter 12. The spell there was rather complicated but at the same time fascinating. It showed you how to turn and inanimate object into a rabbit. The picture was rather cute she thought as the bunny in the photo hopped once and then turned to look quizzically at her.

The compartment door slid suddenly open and Hermione lifted her head puzzled wondering whether the group had found Trevor so soon, but in the threshold was a person unwelcomed by the girl's standards, Draco Malfoy.

"Afternoon, Granger," the blond greeted and motioned for his two cronies to move on. Crabbe and Goyle did as they were told while Hermione returned to her book, hoping that if she pretended the blond didn't exist he would just evaporate into thin air.

"I see you're still dressed up," Draco remarked giving an approving nod to the girl's white off-the-shoulder blouse and three-quarter length blue-jeans.

"Don't you have somewhere else to go Malfoy?" Hermione asked snappishly. "Your cronies might get lost without you."

"Crabbe and Goyle can take care of themselves," Draco waved her concerns aside while taking the seated across from her. Hermione glared at him once and turned back to her book.

"So, who are you trying to impress today little Mudblood," he said casually, but Hermione instantly tensed as soon as the word was out of his mouth. "Lockhart's gone last I checked, which unfortunately means I won't have the pleasure of watching you make a fool out of yourself by drooling over him this year," Draco continued opting to ignore the girl's angry glare and flushed cheeks. She had it coming, the little pest! After all, it was her fault that Diana had dumped him.

"Well then, since I'll pose no entertainment values for you this year, why don't you move along to some other fish?" she said through gritted teeth.

Draco laughed at her.

"I never said you weren't entertaining my dear little Mudblood," Draco chided almost fondly and smiled brightly as she threw him a reproachful look. He loved stepping on the little Mudblood's nerves. She was so damn hot when she was angry!

Draco paled when he realized where his thoughts had wondered.

_No, no, that was Heidi not Granger_! He scolded himself. Granger was just…very attractive, that was all. Wait, that didn't sound right. No, that was definitely not right!

Hermione snapped her book shut with a bang, bringing Draco out of his mussing.

"Well _you_ just so happen to be the most boring person I've ever had the misfortune of knowing! And a selfish little prick to boast!" Hermione snapped. "So I'd appreciate it if you'd go splutter your insults somewhere else!"

The little minx dared to say _he_ was boring when she was the one always stuck in the library and dull to look at like a shelf full of books which you completely ignored unless it had something you liked? The nerves she had!

"And leave you all alone so you can bore yourself with books the entire trip to Hogwarts?" Draco asked offended.

Something seemed to click in Draco's head because in the next moment, Hermione found herself at receiver's end of a rather predatory look from the blond. "Oh, that's right! Your friends!" he exclaimed gleefully. "Where are they?"

"None of your business!" Hermione snapped.

"Did they finally notice how much of a book-worm you really are and got so bored they finally left you for someone better?" he asked cannily.

Hermione threw the book at him while screaming. "My friends would _never_ leave me! Unlike yours! They just went looking for Neville's toad!"

Draco dodged the book and smirked in Hermione's fuming face. "Oh, so Longbottom finally got turned into a toad, did he? About time that happened!" Draco sniggered as Hermione pulled out her wand looking livid. The blond scrambled for the door but unfortunately didn't manage to escape in time as the curly-haired shouted "GET OUT!" and threw a Flippendo spell at him. The spell collided with his back and sent him flying face first into the front window.

"Malfoy, you little pest!" he heard the familiar voice of Heidi Potter coming from his left, but didn't have time to turn his head around and check as a thick book slammed hard into his head with enough force to have him seeing stars, and soon after, he fainted.

Hermione stood panting over the blond's unconscious form and debated whether she should hit him again, but reframed from doing so as she caught sight of Heidi and Diggory.

"Herms, are you alright?" Heidi asked the moment she got to her.

"What happened here?" Diggoy quizzed while inspecting Malfoy for damage.

"He was being a prick!" Hermione defended.

"Typical," Heidi sighed. The brunet noted that Crabbe and Goyle were standing a few blocks away. "Well! Aren't you going to come and collect your leader?" she snapped at them, and the two cronies hurried over and picked up Malfoy from the floor.

"He didn't look to well," Diggory said.

"It's Malfoy! Whatever he got he deserved!" Heidi assured.

"That might be so, but I _am_ a Prefect," Diggory reminded. "And I did see your friend there assault another student!"

Hermione suddenly went a ghostly white color as she looked upon Diggory's shiny badge with distress.

"I didn't mean to!" she spluttered in an anguished voice. "But he started picking on my friends and I know it was wrong, but I tried to ignore him, but-"

"It's alright!" Cedric hasted in assuring at hearing the distress in her voice. "I'm sure you didn't mean to."

"No, I didn't!" Hermione assured. "And I'm never going to do it again, I promise!"

"I believe you!" Cedric was quick to assure.

"There, there, Herms," Heidi cooed. "Cedric knows you're a good girl and would never intentionally hurt anyone!" She enveloped the curly-haired girl in a warm embrace and started rocking her slightly.

"Well, I'd best be off," Cedric said, feeling slightly uncomfortable. "I was supposed to be in the prefects' cabinet a few minutes ago."

"Of course, sorry for keeping you here so long," Heidi apologized.

"Don't worry, it was no bother," Cedric gave her one last dazzling smile and turned on his heal and left.

"Thought you were avoiding him," Hermione mumbled when Cedric was out of earshot.

"I was," Heidi assured. "But I ran into him when I was chasing Diana and Neville. Come inside, I'll tell you all about it," Heidi prompted as she opened the door to their compartment.

-OOOOOOOO-

Diana and Neville followed Fluffy all the way back to the animal compartment where Fluffy stopped to sniff the air.

"Is he here Fluffy?" Neville asked desperately.

"Nev, calm down! We'll find that stupid toad and glue it to its cage so it can't escape next time!" Diana assured.

"Uncle Algie is going to KILL me!" Neville wept for what must have been the tenth time.

"Neville!" Diana snapped. "Calm down! We'll find that stupid-"

"WOOF!"

Fluffy barked once to get their attention and Diana turned to give him a big smile.

"See!" she told Neville as the two made their way towards a large trunk at the end of the corridor. When they got close enough, they saw it instantly, a big green and rather ugly toad struggling to free its leg which had somehow ended up stuck between the floor and the massive trunk.

"Trevor!" Neville gave a squeak of delight at seeing the toad safe and sound. He pulled the slippery thing from underneath the trunk and nearly managed to squash it in his hands as he brought it to his face. "I'm so glad you're alright!" he said, relief clouding his voice.

"Make sure you don't loose it again!" Diana warned.

A loud, deafening thunder sound boomed outside, startling the two kids, and in the next moment, a ray of brilliant light shot through the window monetarily blinding them. Diana grabbed a hold of Neville, who was trembling from head to toe and chocking the toad in his hand. Fluffy too was shivering frantically and barking like a mad man as he scurried throughout the room. A vicious thunder storm picked up outside, and another loud bang had the kids jumping in the air with fright.

"Come on! Let's go back to our compartment!" Diana prompted in a panicked voice.

"Yeah, let's," Neville managed to whimper pathetically as both kids turned and bolted out the door as the sound of another thunder flashed outside. Fluffy dashed right pass them and ran up the corridor and out of sight.

"Fluffy!" Diana called after him, but the dog paid her no heed as he marched on his grand escapade. Diana was just about ready to go after him when Neville remarked: "We're slowing down," in a quiet voice.

"Wha-?" Diana asked and turned to look outside.

Another lightning flashed and after the kids got their sight back, they squinted their eyes to glance out through the imminent darkness and noted that indeed the train was begging to slow down.

A few heads poked out through the compartment doors and curiously looked around.

"Why are we stopping?" a girl the kids had never seen before asked.

"Are we there yet?" another voice quizzed.

"We can't be! We've still got about an hour left," someone answered.

The train came to a stop with a jolt, and distant thuds and bangs told them that luggage had fallen out of the racks. Then, without warning, all the lamps went out and they were plunged into total darkness.

Murmurs began to break out between the crowd and a few of the kids were even shouting for prefects while others hurried back in their compartments. A few seven years rushed out to the next compartment in search for the train's conductor.

Neville and Diana were glued to the hallway windows, trying as best they could to stay out of the way of the desperate crowd which was scurrying by. The two kids yelped suddenly and jumped from the window nearly managing to bump into a few people from amidst the crowd.

"Hey! Watch it!" someone shouted at them and scurried off.

The two apologized and then turned to give the now frozen window a bewildered look. A thick cloud of steam rose up in the air as the two exhaled sharply.

"There's something moving out there," a voice suspiciously reminiscent of Ron Weasley said.

"Oh, come off it Ronikins!" The unmistakable voice of one of the Weasley twins wooed mockingly. "We were only lying about the Boogeyman to keep you inside the house when you were young!"

"Yep. There really is nothing out there," said the other twin, and Diana not that this twins voice was an octave higher than that of the others.

"Fred! George!" Neville called. "Where are you?"

"Hey, that sounded like Neville!" Ron exclaimed.

"We're here!" The twin with the deeper voice answered and grabbed a hold of Neville.

Neville jumped startled while the other twin made his way towards Diana and asked: "And who might you be, my dear alluring shadow?"

"Very funny you!" Diana snapped at him.

"Ah, one of our lovely princesses!" the high pitched twin exclaimed.

"It's Diana!" the red-haired snapped. "Do you mind if we come inside. It's getting a little crowded out here?" Diana asked as more kids swept out of their compartments and stumbled around in the dark.

"Excellent idea my red-haired princess!" the high pitched twin said and grabbed her by the hand.

"Shall we than?" The other twin asked as he began dragging Neville towards their compartment.

"Is your sister with you?" one of the twins asked.

"Or _Hermione_?" the other said while stretching the name dreamily like an enamored fanboy.

"Shut it you!" Ron snapped and then asked in a shy, hope-full voice: "Is Hermione with you?"

"No," Diana said flatly. She could almost feel the disappointment coming off in waves from the youngest Weasley boy. "She's with Heidi in the front compartment, next to the locomotive."

"Than what are you two doing this far back?" asked one of the Weasley twins as he steered Diana into the seat next to him.

"We came to get Neville's toad," Diana explained.

"Quiet!" said a hoarse voice suddenly. Diana clamped her mouth shut while wondering who that voice belonged to.

A jet of light burst into existence in the far left corner and a man with shabby clothes, unkempt hair and dark rimed eyes appeared before them.

Diana looked bewildered at the person, wondering whether he was one of those homeless people who slept in train stations. She hastily scratched that thought out of her mind since he couldn't get pass the barrier if he wasn't a wizard (and the fire in his hand was proof that he was magical). Was he a wizard-bum?

"Stay where you are," the wizard-bum said in the same hoarse voice, and he got slowly to his feet with his handful of fire held out in front of him.

The door to the compartment slid suddenly open, drawing the kids' attention toward it.

Standing in the doorway, illuminated by the shivering flames in the wizard-bum's hand, was a cloaked figure that towered to the ceiling. Its face was completely hidden beneath its hood. There was a hand protruding from the cloak and it was glistening, grayish, slimy-looking, and scabbed, like something dead that had decayed in water. Diana felt like gagging at the sight of it. Neville began whimpering beside her and pulled closer pushing Diana into one of the twins.

The thing beneath the hood suddenly drew a long, slow, rattling breath, as though it were trying to suck something more than air from its surroundings.

An intense cold swept over them all. Diana felt her breath freeze in her chest. It was like the temperature in the room had suddenly dropped below freezing level and her body had stopped working properly. A mantra of blackness suddenly clouded her vision and the dark shadow turned into an ocean of people which were pushing their way down the stairs. Amidst the crowd, she could clearly make out Hermione's figure, waving desperately at her. The crowd suddenly doubled back and she tried to scream, to caution Hermione of the upcoming peril, but her voice wasn't working properly, and before she knew it, the crowd bumped into her friend, sending her toppling down.

She screamed desperately for someone to save her, but Heidi wasn't coming! Hermione was screaming desperately and she wasn't coming! Hermione was at the bottom and she still wasn't coming! Hermione was-

"Diana! Diana! DIANA!"

Someone was shaking her violently and shouting her name with increased anxiety.

"Neville calm down!" another person shouted.

Her vision was blurry. The stadium disappeared in a brilliant flash of light. A shadowy figure (or was it three?) came in her line of view. She was still being shaken roughly.

"Neville that's enough!"

Someone pulled the figure off of her and she fell backwards on a relatively soft surface.

"Are you okay?" another figure appeared before her.

Her stomach constructed painfully and she desperately pushed herself over the side and threw up.

"Guess not," a voice muttered.

"She needs some water," a horse voice said.

"I'll go and get the cart lady!"

_That was definitely Ron Weasley's voice_, Diana thought as her vision slowly began clearing up.

"Are you alright?" a desperate voice asked.

_That's Neville_, she guessed and lifted her head to see the slightly blur outline of her Gryffindore comrade. "Yeah, I'm fine," she managed to say in a week voice.

A pair of hands reached out to her and carefully maneuvered her on the seat so that she was standing upright. She turned her head and found the concerned gaze of the wizard-bum standing before her. Something flicked in his eyes, like a spark of recognition followed by surprise then a pained expression made its way on his face. The wizard-bum hastily left her side which Neville immediately took.

He was shaking still but looked very much relieved. "You okay?" he asked weakly.

"Yeah," Diana nodded. "I'm fine." She noted that the train was rocking slightly, a clear indication that it had resumed its journey towards Hogwarts, and the cloaked figure was nowhere in sight.

"What was that?" she asked remembering the ugly thing.

"A Dementor," the wizard-bum answered. "One of the Dementors of Azkaban." Diana's eyes trailed towards him and she noted that he had a large slab of chocolate which he proceeded to break into pieces.

At the precise moment Ron slid through the compartment door looking rather pleased with himself. "I brought it!" He exclaimed proudly and held up a bottle of water. He passed it over to Diana who gave him a grateful smile.

"Thanks." She took a sip from the bottle, wriggled it around and then spat it out the window. Then she drank a mouthful, but still couldn't get rid of the foul taste in her mouth.

"Here," the wizard-bum, who was apparently not a bum since he could afford chocolate, said and handed on of the Weasley twins the split chocolate shards. "Spread there among yourselves and eat them. It will help," he said then rose to his feet. "You kids stay here, I'll go and check on the other passengers," and he was out the door without another word.

The twins took each a piece of chocolate, gave Ron and Neville one piece each and handed Diana the remaining pieces.

"Here you are milady," one of them said while trying to appear cheerful and somehow not managing to pull it off.

"What happened?" Diana asked while helping herself to a chunk of chocolate.

"Well, that Dementor thing came wondering around and gave us all a good fright," one of the twins said.

"And you sort of went rigid and fell off your seat," Ron continued. "I thought you were having a fit or something."

"And then that Lupin bloke stepped over you and tried to talk with those things," one of the twins continued.

"Yeah, real good that did him," the other said.

"Then he pulled out his wand and a white mist came out and drove the thing away," the other twin finished.

"It was horrible," Ron muttered. "It felt like I'd never be cheerful again…"

"I wonder if Heidi and Hermione are alright?" Neville mumbled.

Ron jumped off his seat suddenly looking terrified. "That's right, I completely forgot about them! And Ginny!" At the mention of the youngest Weasley child Fred and George jumped off their seats followed closely by Neville.

"We should go check on them!" Neville prompted.

Diana was first out the door; the image of Hermione falling to her imminent doom sprang back to mind with a vengeance. As soon as they found the Weasley girl in the next compartment (she was slightly shaken but for the most part looked okay), Diana, Ron and Neville rushed through the compartments up until they got to the first one and dashed through the door to find Heidi and Hermione relatively unfazed by the Dementor incident.

"There you are!" Hermione exclaimed and rushed off to hug Diana who nearly choked the curly-haired girl in a bear hug.

"Are you okay?" Neville asked Heidi.

"Mm hmm," the brunet nodded. "Why wouldn't we be?"

"There were Dementors on the train!" Ron Weasley exclaimed.

"Really, Dementors?" Heidi asked puzzled while Hermione looked horrified at the notion. "Is that why we stopped?"

"Wait till you hear what happened," Neville said and prompted the girls to sit. Neville and Ron launched into the story of the previous events, and by the time he was finished, Hermione was looking faint and clutching Diana's hand like a life savor and Heidi looked down right furious.

"Who the bloody hell thought it was a good idea to let _Dementors_ on an express filled with children!" Heidi said spitefully. "Those Ministry guys are dumber than a rock!"

"Maybe they didn't mean to," Hermione tried to reason.

"Yeah, maybe the Dementors went rampage on their own," Ron added helpfully.

"Anyway, we'll be at Hogwarts soon, so we won't have to worry about them," Hermione said cheerily. Diana nodded looking very much relieved, while Ron sat up with a jolt.

"I have to get back to my brothers," he said and headed for the door. "I'll see you guys at Hogwarts!" He smiled amiably at them and, after catching Hermione's shy smile, went as red as a tomato and scurried out the door in one go, managing to trip a few times along the way.

Neville smiled while Heidi shot Hermione a meaningful look, making the curly-haired girl turn as red as Ron. Diana rolled her eyes and chose to look grumpily out the window.

The rest of the journey was uneventful, the kids changed in their school uniforms and anxiously waited to arrive at Hogwarts where they would be safe from the foul looking cloaked creatures. As the train pulled out in Hogsmead and the kids hastily stepped outside, they were disgruntled to find out that it was freezing, as a massive storm had settled upon the once welcoming little station.

"Firs' years this way!" called a familiar voice. The kids turned to greet Hagrid cheerily, and that's when Diana took notice of Fluffy's absence. She was just about to go back inside the train and search for him, when an excited bark caught her attention. Diana turned towards the sound of the bark and surely, there was Fluffy, energetically waging its tail and pulling a little blond girl along the crowd towards them.

"Fluffy!" Diana exclaimed relieved. She rushed over to the now wet dog and enveloped him in a hug. "You naughty boy! Bad Fluffy! You shouldn't have run away like that!" She reprimanded fondly.

The other three caught up to her and Neville laughed as he saw the wet pack of fur.

"Ew, the smell of wet fur!" Hermione covered her nose with her palms and turned away from them, while Heidi gave one sniff at the air and did the same.

"Thank you for taking care of him!" Diana said smiling up at the little girl which was holding Fluffy's collar. Her smile only widened when she caught sight of the girl's wand which was hanging loosely behind her left ear and the Butterbeer corks necklace she was wearing around her neck, or the look of permanent surprise plastered on her face. Add that to her straggly, waist-length, dirty blonde hair, and dreamy silvery eyes and she could have easily wone the contest for cutest person alive! Well, she did give off an aura of distinct dottiness, but that only added to her cuteness.

"I found him running through the corridor when I cam back from the bathroom," the girl responded dreamily. "He rushed right into my compartment and wouldn't come out until the train stopped. I think that Heliopaths were after him."

"Heliopaths? What are Heliopaths?" Surprisingly it was Hermione who asked.

Diana turned an astonished look in her friend's direction. Hermione didn't know what a Heliopath was?

"It's a spirit of fire which is said can burns anything in its path," the girl answered conversationally.

"Really," Hermione looked intrigued. "Where have you read of them?"

"My father wrote an article about it in his paper," the girl answered cheerily and lifted up a reversed newspaper which was soaked up by the rain that you could barely distinguish the words _The Quibbler _in the far left corner of the page.

Hermione's expression instantly turned fowl. "Oh, I see," she said in a cold tone. Heidi croaked an enquiring eyebrow at her and Hermione pulled her aside to whisper: "That paper is rubbish! I actually _tried_ reading it once, so I could understand why people were belittling it so much for, and believe me, there is nothing historically accurate there!" Heidi was surprised to hear the scorn in her friend's voice, and turned to give the innocent looking, and not a little dotty girl, which was still hanging on to Fluffy's collar, a bewildered look.

"Sorry for the trouble!" Diana apologized. "I'm Diana Potter," she introduced. "This is my sister Heidi, Hermione Granger and that's Neville Longbottom!"

"I've hear of you," the girl replied. "You're the main topic of discussion for all the guys in my year, some of the girls too."

"Guys, sorry to interrupt, but I really think we should go!" Hermione said while clutching her coat tightly around her. Diana turned to look around and was surprised to find that the five of them were the only ones left on the platform.

"Right," the red-haired said and the five kids made their way out onto a rough muddy track where a single stagecoach was left waiting for them, and about a hundred could be seen in the distance making their way towards the castle. They hastily climbed inside, in hopes of escaping the poring rain and shut the door. As soon as they did so, the carriage set off towards Hogwarts pulled by what Diana could only assume was an invisible horse or magic.

"So, what's your name?" Heidi asked the blond girl as Neville and Diana turned to look expectantly at her. Hermione looked fairly uninterested in the new girl.

"Luna Lovegood," she replied dreamily, but for some unfathomable reason Heidi narrowed her eyes at her. Hermione sent her a quizzing look which Heidi completely ignored in favor of continuing her inquiry.

"What year and in what house?" the brunet demanded.

"Ravenclaw, second year," Luna answered in a much softer voice, a statement to which Hermione snorted.

There was no way the girl could be a Ravenclaw, she was sure of it.

Much to Hermione's chagrin, Heidi's interest in the girl heightened as she kept pestering the poor girl with questions for most of the journey to the castle.

"So, a Moon Frog…" Heidi started.

"Is a frog like creature with granite skin thought to reside on the moon," Luna finished. "My dad said that a man flew to the moon once with a Cleansweep Six and brought back a few Moon Frogs as proof!"

"Really?" Heidi's eyes gleamed with interest, like she was trying to solve the hardest of puzzles, while Hermione looked undignified to share a seat with her.

Fluffy suddenly wined in fear and jumped underneath the seat, drawing everyone's attention towards him.

"What's wrong you?" Diana bent down to give Fluffy a questioned look.

"Maybe the Heliopaths are back," Luna suggested.

Hermione threw Luna a skeptic look and turned to look outside the window. "Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that Dementors are standing guar outside the school gates," she said uneasily.

The kids all turned to look outside the carriage's windows and felt panic wield up inside them at the sight of the two Dementors standing on either side of the ancient gates. Diana quickly leaped away from the window and closed her eyes, standing rigid on her seat, while Heidi looked down right furious with the idea. Neville was trembling from head to toe, and Hermione, surprisingly, noted that Luna was slightly shaken as well. Nothing else was said for the rest of the journey.

Hagrid was waiting for them in front of the front oaked double-doors.

"Hello there you four!" he greeted merrily. "How've you been?"

"Great," Diana muttered grumpily as she jumped out of the carriage and pulled Fluffy down with her. "This is Fluffy!" she introduced.

Luna ran pass Hagrid, straight into the castle without a second glance. Hermione stared quizzically at her for a few seconds then turned towards Hagrid and greeted him cheerily. "Hello Hagrid!"

"A real pleasure it is!" Hagrid smiled kindly at the wet dog and Fluffy barked with enthusiasm. "Evening Hermione," Hagrid responded. "How 'ave you been?"

"Great!" the curly haired said. "A little wet, but great!"

"I'll come by tomorrow to check on Fluffy," Diana said.

"Right then," Hagrid straightened up and took hold of Fluffy's collar. "You's four best be making your way into the castle now, Dumbledore's got some interesting news for yas."

"Oh, I'm sure," Heidi remarked sardonically.

"Som'thin' wrong Eidi?" the giant asked at seeing Heidi's angry glare.

"No, nothing," the brunet said and walked pass him. "It's good to see you Hagrid," she called back as she climbed the front stairs.

"We'll be seeing you around," Neville said and followed Heidi's lead. Hermione and Diana said their good byes to Hagrid and hurried after the two. As they entered the castle's magnificent entrance hall, they saw Minerva McGonagall, their Head of House and both Heidi and Neville waiting outside the Great Hall.

"Diana! Granger!" McGonagall beckoned them towards her. "I wish to speak to you four!"

Diana and Hermione shared a bewildered look and hurried towards their head of house.

"There's no need to look so worried — I just want a word in my office," she told them.

She ushered them up to the first floor where her office lay and motioned for them to sit down, as she took her usual seat behind her desk.

"Professor Lupin sent an owl ahead to say that you were taken ill on the train, Diana" she said abruptly. "He also happened to mention that you were rather sick as well Longbottom."

Neville and Diana burned up with embarrassment, but before they could reply there was a knock at the door and Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse, came bustling in.

"There really is no need for all this trouble professor," Neville said.

"Yes, we're both fine!" Diana assured.

"Oh, it's you, again?" said Madam Pomfrey, glaring disapprovingly at them. "I suppose you've been doing something dangerous again?"

"It was a Dementor, Poppy," said Professor McGonagall.

They exchanged a dark look, and Madam Pomfrey clucked disapprovingly.

The next ten minutes was pure torture for the two as they futilely tried to convince the nurse that they were fine. After much struggle, Madam Pomfrey relented and took her leave. McGonagall however didn't look too convinced.

"Are you sure you two are feeling all right?" Professor McGonagall said sharply.

"Yes," both Diana and Neville said snappishly.

Hermione threw them both a disapproving look which had them apologizing at once to their teacher.

"Very well. Heidi, I wanted to inform you that the Falmouth Falcons' manager is looking for new additions to their team, and they're offering the Hogwarts students who manage to capture their attention a free tryout. They'll be present at every singly match this year, so you'd better be at your best if you want to have a chance in professional Quidditch!" McGonagall winked and after a few moments of staring dumbly at her, Heidi smiled.

"Thanks for the head's up Professor!" She said enthusiastically. "And fear not, for I'm always at my best in a Quidditch match!" she finished arrogantly and McGonagall rolled her eyes.

"We shall see. Now, would the three of you kindly wait outside while I have a quick word with Miss Granger about her course schedule, then we can go down to the feast together."

The trio exited the office looking slightly baffled as to why the professor wanted to talk to Hermione, but shrugged the matter off, assuming that curly-haired girl would tell them what it was all about later. They had to wait only a few minutes for Hermione to emerge from the office, looking very happy about something, followed by McGonagall who led them downstairs and into the Great Hall.

Not long after McGonagall took her place at the staff table, Dumbledore rose form his seat to begin his start of term speech, which Heidi assumed would contained much of the usual, and was about to block him out and ask Hermione what she'd talk with Professor McGonagall about when Dumbledore said:

"I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast…"

Heidi immediately turned her attention towards him, slightly worried by the grave tone that his words carried.

Dumbledore cleared his throat and continued, "As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the Dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business."

Diana and Neville exchanged panicked looks, while Hermione looked apprehensive.

"They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds," Dumbledore continued, "and while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises — or even Invisibility Cloaks," he added blandly, and Diana and Neville exchanged worried glances. "It is not in the nature of a Dementor to understand pleading or excuses. I therefore warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. I look to the prefects, and our new Head Boy and Girl, to make sure that no student runs afoul of the Dementors," he said.

And Heidi suddenly remembered what had made her so angry to begin with. How could Dumbledore stand such foul creatures wandering about his school like that? Was Sirius Black such a great threat that they had to rely on such disgusting things to protect the school when the greatest wizard of all times was allegedly the headmaster?

Heidi couldn't help mussing over the matter for the rest of the feast and shared some of her thoughts with Hermione. Her sister's comment about believing that the new DADA teacher was a bum made her smile slightly. Silly Diana! Though looking at the man she couldn't exactly blame her. Though why Severus Snape, her Potions Master, was throwing such foul looks the man's way intrigued her. Maybe the two had a history together? Bother! Like Snape wasn't bad enough on his own, now he actually had a_ reason_ to be in a foul mood! Or maybe the greasy git was just bitter that he still couldn't get his hands on the DADA post.

She was happy that Hagrid was given the post of Care of Magical Creatures and was glad she'd decided on taking the subject after all, though she felt a little crossed with the man for not mentioning a word to her in all the letters he'd written them throughout the summer.

After the feast ended the four of them scurried off to the teachers table and congratulated Hagrid, who burst into tears and random babbles about how much this meant to him, up until McGonagall shooed them off to bed. And between all the hassle and tussle and portrait passwords Heidi forgot all about Hermione and her mysterious little chat with their head of house.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Some of Trelawney's, McGonagall's and Hagrid's speeches are taken directly from the book.

**Chapter 4: The Death Omen**

Diana was in a foul mood the next morning. Neville and Heidi weren't better of themselves, while Hermione looked positively delighted with their misfortune.

Every now and then she'd giggle victoriously to herself as she gazed upon their sulky faces. One of the trio would turn to give her a mean look, at which the girl would burry her head in her schedule and pretend like she was more interested in eating.

Diana turned her attention back to the Marauders Map and sighed defeated.

"We'll never make it to Hogsmead like this!" she whined throwing a peeved look at the black dots entitled _Dementor_ on the map. There were just too many of them.

"And I was so anxious to finally see Hogsmead," said Neville looking hopeless. "Uncle Algie talked about it all the time when I was small!" he exclaimed happily. "About all the adventures they had there, the different shops, and the Shrieking Shack – the creepy house that they said was haunted – and, and –" his face fell "I'll never get to see them…"

"Don't be silly!" Heidi chided annoyed. "Of course you'll get to see them! We just have to be really careful that we're not seen! By neither Dementor nor teacher!"

"It'll be a pain getting past those," Diana remarked.

Heidi nodded while giving the map a conflicted look. The Dementors could move at a worrisome speed, if you counted the fact that one had covered half the castle grounds in less than five minutes, whereas it would take them roughly twenty to twenty-five minutes to cover the same distance, and that would be by taking the shortcuts.

Hermione sniggered again.

"Will you stop that!" Heidi snapped at her. "This is not funny!"

"Of course it isn't!" Hermione agreed. "But it will at least keep you guys in line and out of trouble!"

"Out of trouble?" Heidi asked snarkily. She chuckled darkly, and than threw a nasty look her friend's way. "I'll find a way around this," she threatened.

"You won't," Hermione said defiantly meeting her gaze head-on.

Neville rolled his eyes. "Hermione, I thought you wanted to go to Hogsmead!" he said annoyed.

"Of course I do!" the curly-haired said in her defense. "But I think we can both agree that Hogsmead isn't worth getting caught by Dementors! If they catch us sneaking out they'll think we're aiding Sirius Black! And you heard what Dumbledore said! We mustn't give them reason to harm us!"

Neville bowed his head in agreement, and Diana, for the first time in her life, didn't look so eager to embark on an adventure knowing the repercussions that failure would bring. Heidi on the other hand, looked more determined to jump the latter than Hermione had ever seen her. She kept scanning the map from one corner to the other looking for _something_.

"You know, instead of obsessing over that map for no apparent reason, why not try finding a shortcut for us use when going to our next classes," Hermione advised. "We'll be starting some new subjects today, and it won't do to get lost on our first day!"

"I knew I forgot something!" Neville exclaimed searching through his pockets desperately. "My schedule," he moaned disgruntled. "I left it in the dorms!"

"What are you so upset about?" Diana asked confused. "You're taking the same classes as me, and I have my schedule, so unless you forgot your books, there really isn't anything to worry about."

Neville looked relieved. "Thanks Diana!"

"Okay guys, what are your first classes?" Heidi demanded.

Diana pulled out her schedule and said: "Divination!"

"Muggle Study," Hermione said.

"And Arithmancy for me," Heidi added and turned her eyes toward the map. She suddenly lifted her head up to give Hermione a questioned look. "Muggle Study?" she said baffled. "When is your Muggle Study class?"

"Right after breakfast," Hermione answered without thinking. A moment later, she froze looking worriedly at Heidi's narrowed eyes.

"Hermione, you're taking all the extra subjects this year, right?" Heidi asked casually.

"Yes," Hermione answered just as casually, her eyes wondering about.

"The Muggle Study and Arithmancy classes are due to start both at 9 o'clock," Heidi said.

"Divination too," Diana added helpfully.

"So?" Hermione asked seemingly unfazed, her head buried in her schedule again.

"Which one are you taking?" Heidi asked.

"All of them," Hermione answered. "I've arranged it all with Professor McGonagall yesterday."

Heidi still looked a little doubtful but nodded her head and resumed scanning the map. "So where are you going now? After breakfast I mean?"

"I'll have to think about that," Hermione said evasively. "But I'd like to know where all the classes are if you don't mind."

"Right," Heidi nodded. "Well, Divination is at the top of North Tower. It'll take you guys ten minutes to get there, but if you use this shortcut behind the portrait on the third floor, you should be there in five minutes top."

"Wow, didn't know there were portraits which could lead us to other parts of the castle," Neville said.

"That's because you two never studied the map close enough to find out," Heidi said.

"Hey!" Diana began to protest, but Heidi cut her off.

"Arithmancy is on the seventh floor," she told Hermione. "Classroom 7A. It shouldn't take us long to get there. And Muggle Study…is on the first floor! Classroom 1D, you'll get there in no time!" Hermione nodded. "Here," Heidi handed the map to Diana. "You guys will need this more than us."

Diana pocketed the map and after greeting an overjoyed Hagrid, the kids exited the Great Hall.

"I'm going to have a talk with the Muggle Study teacher," Hermione said as she took her leave on the first floor.

Diana and Neville departed on the third floor, while Heidi made her way to the seventh floor and calmly waited for the teacher to arrive.

Very few students were gathered around the classroom, mostly Ravenclaws, a few Hufflepuffs, and one Slytherin, Daphne Greengrass. There was no one else from Gryffindor besides her… and Hermione.

_Wait, Hermione_? Heidi turned bewildered to give her friend a confused look.

"Hermione?" she asked uncertain.

"There you are!" Hermione exclaimed looking flushed. She ran up to her and stopped a few feet away to draw her breath. "I've spoken with professor Charity Burbage," she said between pants, "and I've told him that I'll be taking… Arithmancy this morning… and he…" she took in another deep breath of air and lifted her head up. "And he agreed to have me recover that class sometime this week."

Heidi shuck her head disapprovingly at her. "You know, you wouldn't be in this problem if you'd just dropped Muggle Study!" she exclaimed peeved.

"But it's fascinating to learn about how wizards perceive Muggles and their culture!" Hermione protested. "It was so hilarious when Professor Burbage tried to explain electricity to wizards!"

"It was?" Heidi asked confused.

"Yes-" Hermione began saying, than stopped mid sentence. "I mean, it would be," she said uneasy. "Think about it! It would be just as mind boggling as trying to explain to Muggles what magic is!" Hermione finished in a high-pitched voice. She was squirming on the spot and laughing nervously while averting her eyes from Heidi's narrowed ones.

"Hermione," Heidi began, and Hermione felt a feeling of dread stir up in her gut. "When are you taking the-"

Heidi didn't get to finish her question as the door to Classroom 7A opened with a bang and a woman in her late forties dressed in dark-red robes with a bright-red hat stepped out of the classroom.

"Good morning Class!" she had a smooth voice and held herself in a clam but imposing manor. "I am Professor Septima Vector, your Arithmancy teacher," she introduced. "Now, if all the class members have assembled I would appreciate it if you make your way to your seats so we could begin our first lesson."

Professor Vector stepped back into the classroom and the assembled crowd scurried after her, Hermione being among the first to enter the classroom. Heidi sat down in the first table of the middle row besides Hermione, and gave the girl on last suspicious look before turning her attention towards the teacher.

-OOOOOOOOO-

"I think this is the portrait that we're supposed to take," Diana said giving the map a doubtful look.

"Are you sure it's not that one there," Neville inquired looking confused between the two portraits.

"Neville! Diana!"

"Hermione!" the two chorused and turned, bewildered, to see Hermione running down the corridor toward them.

"Weren't you supposed to be at Muggle Study?" Diana asked.

Hermione stopped before the two to catch her breath and then lifted her head to give them an annoyed look. "No, I went there to talk with the teacher and reschedule my class!"

"Oh," the other two nodded.

"Does that mean you're coming to Divination with us?" Neville asked excited.

"Why else do you think I'm here?" Hermione asked as she rolled her eyes.

"Mind giving us a hand with this map," Diana said and handed the map over to Hermione. "We're not sure which portrait we're supposed to take."

Hermione took the map from Diana and after a few seconds of intense study she said: "It's this one!" and pointed at the portrait from right in front of them. "Star-shine!" she said and the portrait promptly swung open. "Come one!" Hermione prompted and dashed through the portrait hole.

Diana and Neville scurried after her and emerged in the middle of an arc shaped corridor which had a number of four suits of armor aligned on the opposite side of the wall. Hermione had already set of toward her left with the Marauders Map still in hand.

"I don't believe it," Diana said looking astounded. "It actually got us to the North Tower!"

"Hey! Hermione!" Neville shouted and hurried after the girl. Diana snapped out of her trance and ran after them.

The arc-shaped room led them right towards a spiral staircase, which seemed to go on forever in it's ascent toward the top. Diana nearly fainted on the spot, but Hermione nagged her out of it.

When the kids reached the final step, they were puffing and panting as if they'd just ran the marathon, not to mention their heads were spinning like roller-coaster rides, so they sank down to the floor and waited patiently for the other kids to pile up. The last of the class to arrive was Ron Weasley, followed shortly be Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas.

"Hey Neville! Diana…Hermione," Ron greeted while blushing furiously. Hermione went scarlet red and lifted herself off the floor.

"Hey, Ron!" Neville said.

"How did you get here so fast?" Ron asked as means of conversation.

"_We_ didn't get here fast, _you_ got hear too late," Diana reminded. "You're the last to arrive!"

"It's Ron's fault!" Dean was quick to blame. "He wouldn't stop eating!"

"And you got us lost on the ground floor!" Ron reminded.

"Yeah, very mature you two!" Diana reprimanded. "Instead of fighting like two buffoons, why not put your strength to better use, like, lets say, getting down that door," the red-haired pointed at a trap door which was located right above their heads.

The trapped door popped suddenly open and a silver ladder descended at their feet. The kids shared a puzzled look before making their way up the ladder, with Ron leading the way.

They stepped into one of the strangest room they had ever seen. It was dark and warm, and cramped, the walls were stuffed with shelves from which tea pots, cups and crystal balls dangles, and on all sides they were surrounded by feathery armchairs around small, round tables with fluffy cushions sitting on the side.

"Where is she?" someone asked in a hushed voice.

A misty voice resounded from the shadows: "Welcome," it said. "How nice to see you in the physical world at last."

Professor Trelawney (or so the kids thought,) moved into the firelight like a glittering insect, studying each of their faces with her large, magnified eyes. She was thin as a stick, dressed in shabby clothes (Lupin had more sense of style than her, Diana thought) with long brow hair which covered up most of her face. Unfortunately, it didn't cover up her eyes, which seemed oversized thanks to a large pair of glasses which looked nothing next to impressive.

"Sit, my children, sit," she said, and they all climbed awkwardly into armchairs or sank onto poufs. Diana, Hermione and Neville sat down in one of the front tables (because Hermione wanted to sit upfront), and Diana opted to sit on one of the fluffy red puffs instead of a chair.

"Welcome to Divination," said Professor Trelawney, who had seated herself in a winged armchair in front of the fire. "My name is Professor Trelawney. You may not have seen me before. I find that descending too often into the hustle and bustle of the main school clouds my Inner Eye."

The voice of the teacher was so monotone, so incredibly boring, that Diana found it even harder to stay awake than Bins' class.

"So you have chosen to study Divination, the most difficult of all magical arts…"

The heavy perfume coming from the copper kettle by the fire, engulfed Diana senses making her dropped her head on the table and fall into a deep sleep after that sentence.

It was weird. The world was suddenly hazy, filled with dark-red colors and strange shapes. There was the voice of a cat mewling abandoned somewhere nearby, but she couldn't see the creature. The blurry shapes took the form of the grand staircase, but it was all upside down, and Hermione was running on one of the steps. Diana tried to call out to her, but she was out of sight. Then another one popped out of the other side of the later and ran in the opposite direction. Fluffy was there too, running after something… or was it from something?

"Diana?"

The other Hermione suddenly disappeared, and a third one pocked her head from behind another corner.

"Diana!"

And annoying voice reached her ear that sounded suspiciously like Hermione, but Diana didn't feel like waking yet. There was something more. Heidi suddenly emerged from a corridor, following the third Hermione.

"Diana!"

The voice became more persistent, and she felt a hand on her shoulder shaking her lightly, but there was still something more. A shadow which was emerging from the corridor right above her.

"DIANA!"

She woke with a start as a highly irritated Hermione screamed straight in her ear, nearly managing to leave her deaf.

"What? What happened?" Diana asked confused. She nearly fainted again at the sight of Professor Trelawney's gigantic eyes so close to her.

"No, you silly girl!" Trelawney turned her head to snap at Hermione. "You shouldn't have woken her! She might have been having a vision!"

Hermione looked skeptic. "She was sleeping," she stated tersely.

"You'll forgive me for saying so, my dear, but I perceive very little aura around you," Trelawney chided. "No student has ever _fallen asleep_ in my classroom." She turned back toward Diana. "Don't mind her dear! Now, tell me, what did you see?" she prompted, looking expectantly at Diana.

"I haven't a clue," Diana said still slightly baffled.

"You can't remember?" Trelawney persisted. Diana shuck her head. "Nothing at all?" Again, Diana shuck her head. "Pity," Trelawney looked disappointed. "But you mustn't despair," she said her misty voice taking on a reassuring tone. "It will come to you eventually. And when it does, you should seek me out immediately so that we may, together, unravel the mystery behind your vision my dear!"

Diana nodded, still looking baffled, and was quite relieved when Trelawney moved on to pick on Lavender. What followed was a moment of silence in which Diana turned her head towards Hermione looking for some clarification, but all she got was a shrug instead.

"I've got the cups," Neville said, coming up beside them. Hermione grumpily grabbed one of the pink ones and sat up while Diana took the second and followed her lead, wondering what they were supposed to do with them. The kids had all formed a line in front of Trelawney and were waiting their turn to have their cup filled. Once they were done, the trio made their way back to their seats, followed closely by Ron Weasley, who sat himself besides Neville.

Ron, Neville and Hermione began drinking their tea and Diana, not knowing what to do, followed their lead, and soon wished she hadn't. The tea was _horrible_! She turned a foul look in Trelawney's direction and wondered how someone could be so incredibly inept at coking as to not be able to prepare a cup of bloody tea! She sulked, but drank the tea nonetheless (because of Hermione's nagging mind you).

When they were done, the kids turned the cups upside down and let the leaves dry out, then they switched the cups around, Neville with Ron and Hermione took Diana's cup and passed the red-haired her own.

"What am I supposed to do?" Diana asked uncertain.

"Turn to pages 5 and 6 and start reading," Hermione instructed. Diana nodded and did as told…and gave up after a few failed attempts at reading the tea leaves.

"Sorry Mione, but I can't make heads or tails of this," Diana apologized.

"I think this sais you'll get a new crush," Hermione said uncertain while spinning the cup around.

"Really?" Diana asked excited. "Does it say who it is?"

"Of course not!" Hermione reprimanded with a chuckle. "I was hoping you would tell me?" the curly-haired nudged her playfully and they both erupted in giggles, making Ron and Neville feel very uncomfortable.

Hermione put down Diana's cup and picked up her own. "Let's see what this has to say?"

"I think you're gonna have a new crush too," Diana said.

Hermione blushed and hastily shuck her head. "No, you're wrong."

"No I'm not!" Diana countered.

"Does anything in the cup look like a heart to you?" Hermione asked irked.

"No, but I just got a gut feeling," Diana informed her.

"Your _gut feeling_ is not enough," Hermione snapped.

"Let me see that, my dear," Professor Trelawney came sweeping over and snatched Hermione's cup.

"Hey!" Hermione protested indignantly.

Professor Trelawney stared into the teacup, while rotating it counterclockwise.

"The falcon… my dear, you have a deadly enemy."

Hermione scowled, because it looked like Trelawney was talking to Diana rather than her. Diana looked baffled at Hermione and wondered who the _deadly enemy_ was.

"Deadly enemy?" Diana enquired, but Trelawney opted to ignore her in favor of muttering:

"The club… an attack. Dear, dear, this is not a happy cup…The skull… danger in your path, my dear…"

Diana, Neville and Ron looked scared out of their mind, while Hermione looked down right peeved with the teacher, because, again, it looked like the old hag was talking to Diana rather than her. And that was her cup!

Trelawney suddenly let out a horrified gasp, followed by a piercing scream. She fell dramatically in on of the armchairs closest to their table and closed her eyes, with her hand at her heart.

"My dear girl — my poor dear girl — no — it is kinder not to say — no — don't ask me…"

"What is it, Professor?" Ron demanded looking fearful in Hermione's direction. Everyone had crowded around their table by now and was waiting to hear what the professor had to say.

"My dear," Professor Trelawney's huge eyes opened dramatically and fixed themselves on Diana, "you have the Grim."

"The what?" asked Diana.

Ron and Neville gasped in freight and pulled Hermione protectively between them.

"The Grim, my dear, the Grim!" cried Professor Trelawney, who looked shocked that Diana hadn't understood. "The giant, spectral dog that haunts churchyards! My dear girl, it is an omen — the worst omen — of _death_!"

Ron tightened his hold on Hermione as Diana clutched her hand and squeezed hard enough to crush the bone. Neville was shaking and Hermione felt her face go blood-red because she was practically sitting on the two boys' laps.

"That's my cup!" she finally snapped at Trelawney, whose expression flew from Diana to hers and than turned to shock.

"Your cup?" Trelawney asked dazed. "But –" then she noted that Ron, Neville and Diana were holding on to her like a life saver and the words died in her mouth. "Than you are a rather unfortunate girl," she finished in a misty tone. "I think we will leave the lesson here for today. Please pack away your things…"

Hermione looked annoyed beyond belief at the teacher, and would have given her a piece of her mind, had Ron, Neville and Diana not dragged her forcibly out of the classroom. The whole way to Transfiguration the three kept a firm grip on Hermione. Heidi was rather surprised and very much amused at finding her friend in such an awkward position. She decided to have pity on her and pull her out of the three's iron grip.

"What's up with them?" Heidi asked as she took her seat besides Hermione in the front-row middle-table.

"Don't ask," Hermione said piqued and pretended to ignore the worried looks and anxious whispers of her friends for the rest of the class. Unfortunately for her, McGonagall couldn't.

"Really, what has got into you all today?" said Professor McGonagall, who'd just turned back into a human. "Not that it matters, but that's the first time my transformation's not got applause from a class."

Ron raised a trembling hand and spoke with an anguished tone while looking straight at Hermione the whole time (the curly-haired was ignoring him):

"Please, Professor, we've just had our first Divination class, and we were reading the tea leaves, and —"

"Ah, of course," said Professor McGonagall, suddenly frowning. "There is no need to say any more, Mister Weasley. Tell me, which of you will be dying this year?"

Everyone stared at her.

"Me," said Hermione indignantly.

McGonagall stared. "You're a rather unusual target for her standards," McGonagall said looking thoughtful.

"She thought she was reading Diana's cup," Hermione said helpfully.

McGonagall nodded. "Then it makes perfect sense." She carried on by saying: "Sybill Trelawney has predicted the death of one student a year since she arrived at this school. None of them has died yet." and left it at that, completely confident that Hermione didn't need any more encouragement; though, Ron and everyone else who wasn't Heidi didn't look much convinced.

Though there was something bothering Heidi. Hermione had been to Arithmancy with her, and had suddenly vanished while mumbling something about having to speak with the Divinations teacher. Now, what baffled her was, had that teacher really had time in the five or so minutes Hermione was gone to scare the whole class out of their mind? Heidi shuck her head. She was damn glad she'd decided to skip Divinations.

Lunch was annoying, even for Heidi, since apparently, news at Hogwarts travels faster than lightning. By the time it took them to get to the Great Hall, everybody in the school knew Hermione was supposed to die a horrible death in the nearby future.

Pansy Parkinson, the Slytherin little hag, alongside all her evil little friend was laughing and pointing at them as they went by. Heidi remarked with interest that Draco Malfoy, the nastiest of the lot, was looking far from happy with the news.

"Look Draco, it's the soon-to-be dead Mudblood," Pansy teased. "I hope she kicks the bucket today! Heaven know Hogwarts is in serious need of some decontamination," she said with malice.

"Yeah," Draco said half smiling, half grimacing. And the frustrating part was, he didn't even know why! Something like this should have him jumping with joy. _A Mudblood's death was predicted_! Why was he _not happy_? He lifted his head towards Hermione and a though suddenly crossed his mind. Maybe it had something to do with it being _that _particular Mudblood. Than he furiously shuck his head. No! It was all because Diana was sad, yes, he could work with that! Diana was sad because the Mudblood was threatened, so he was unhappy! That was it! It had nothing to do with the Granger girl, nothing at all!

His gaze lingered on Diana, and he was suddenly reminded of how beautiful she was. With that fiery red hair and those vivid hazel eyes, not to mention a smile that could melt mountains. His first crush; his first girlfriend, and he hadn't even got the chance to kiss her…

His annoyance towards Granger was coming back in full force. The little Mudblood was pretty, he'd give her that, but compared to Diana, she was a far-cry, and compared to Heidi, she wasn't even that hot; sure she was fun to teas, but she wasn't worth loosing a girl like Diana for.

"Draco," the blond was jabbed out of his mussing by an annoyingly whiny voice. He turned his head around and nearly fainted from fear. If there was someone uglier that Granger, it had to be Pansy Parkinson. He didn't even know _why_ she was that ugly, because she was a pureblood, least from what he knew of, but she was.

"Yes," he answered forcing on a smile.

"It's time for Care of Magical Creature with that oaf Hagrid," she said sweetly. And he was suddenly reminded that the pest had opted for the exact same elective courses he had, and never had a Pansy-free day. Damn his meddling mother!

"Best be off then," Draco picked up his bag, and after one last glare in the Mudblood's direction, he stalked of with his classmates.

-OOOOOOOOO-

As if lunch wasn't bad enough, the quartet were disgruntled to find out that they had Care of Magical Creatures with the Slytherins.

Heidi figured that maybe Dumbledore wasn't confident enough to leave Hagrid alone with the little rascals, and the Lion's house was the only one bold enough to stand up to them, which was why she thought that he paired up the Slytherins and Gryffindors in Potions, because the other houses would be trashed between Snape and his little snakes, but that still didn't mean that she was happy with the arrangements!

Heidi decided to walk deliberately slow so as to avoid getting to class before Hagrid showed up. Diana was rather annoyed with her, while Hermione looked grateful, but Ron and his gang were charging forward right through the thick ocean of Slytherins. Fortunately for them, Hagrid was waiting right outside his hut, looking extremely nervous, but very happy about something.

"C'mon, now, get a move on!" he called as the class approached. "Got a real treat for yeh today! Great lesson comin' up! Everyone here? Right, follow me!"

They followed him along the edge of the forest for about five minutes, and after the astounding revelation of how to open your copy of _The Monster Book of Monsters_ (you had to stroke its spine) and the obligatory snarky remarks from the Slytherin side, which the Gryfindors promptly ignored or condemned, Hagrid came around to presenting them their first magical creature.

There were collective gasps and oohs erupting from the crowd at the sight before them. A horse-legged, eagle-headed, golden-eyed creature which had a large chained collar tied around its neck held firmly in Hagrid's iron grip. Diana squealed in delight, while most of the class backed up a little as the impressive beast ruffled its wings and gave a mighty hoot.

"Hippogriffs!" Hagrid roared happily, waving a hand at them. "Beau'iful, aint' he?"

Diana enthusiastically nodded her head and tried to speed up towards Hagrid but Heidi caught her by the elbow and violently bulled her back while giving Hagrid a murderous glare.

_He's insane!_ was all that was running through Heidi's head. She might not know much about Magical Creature, but that thing was almost as big as Hagrid was and definitely looked dangerous. She had half a mind to start screaming at the goofy teacher for bringing the thing along, but she was wary of how the creature would react.

"So," said Hagrid, rubbing his hands together and beaming around, "if yeh wan' ter come a bit nearer…"

Heidi looked like she was going to have a fit and was just as compelled as anyone else to withdraw from the sight, but Hermione, Neville and Diana dragged her forward towards the fence which separated them from the vicious looking creature. Her grip on Diana tightened as she felt her sister practically bouncing with excitement of seeing the creature up-close.

"Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' Hippogriffs is, they're proud," said Hagrid. "Easily offended, Hippogriffs are. Don't never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do."

Yep, Heidi was definitely having a fit. Oh, she hoped Hagrid would be run over by a train before the end of the class or else he was in for a rough time when it was over.

"Yeh always wait fer the Hippogriff ter make the firs' move," Hagrid continued. "It's polite, see? Yeh walk toward him, and yeh bow, an' yeh wait. If he bows back, yeh're allowed ter touch him. If he doesn' bow, then get away from him sharpish, 'cause those talons hurt."

"Right — who wants ter go first?"

Heidi looked thunderstruck. Hagrid was actually expecting them to go and _touch_ that thing? He was mad! Hermione and Neville looked very uncomfortable beside her, but Diana managed to slip from her grasp and crossed the fence before Heidi had a chance to grab her again.

"Me! ME!" Diana enthused and hastily made her way pass a terrified looking Hagrid.

"No, Diana!" Hagrid shouted. "Yeh bow to em first!"

Heidi ran up to the fence and jumped over in one leap, pulling her wand out in the process and pointing it at the creature. Hagrid caught her before she could get too close and said: "Wait!"

Diana stopped a few paces away from the tense looking creature and bowed respectfully. She lifted a brilliant smile up at the creature and the feathery beast was on its knees in no time. Diana's smile widened and she walked forward and pated the creature's head. Hagrid and Heidi both let out a long suffering breath.

"Well done, Diana!" said Hagrid, ecstatic. Heidi stepped on Hagrid's foot, hard, which had the giant hopping around in one leg and holding his abused foot in his hands.

"Are you MAD!" she hissed at him, in something sinisterly similar to Parseltongue. "Bringing a ferocious beast in front of children? Couldn't you have picked a Unicorn instead?"

"But 'Eidi, Unicorns ain't as fond of men as they are of women," Hagrid protested.

"Then you should have brought something less ferocious!" Heidi snapped looking still very much aggravated, she down right refused to go near the beast, not even when her sister begged her to.

Neville took the next turn, and after the Hippogriff finally bowed to him, Hagrid hoisted the boy on the creature's back and slapped its hindquarters, prompting the winged beast up in the air. The Hippogriff (which was apparently called Buckbeak) flew him once around the paddock and then headed back to the ground. Neville looked very much relieved to be back on solid ground, but was also glad to have earned the respect and acclaims of his housemates.

"Great job Neville!" Ron Weasley patted him proudly on the back.

"That was fantastic!" Diana squealed and hugged the poor boy who went as red as a tomato.

"Thanks," he said shyly and smiled brightly at them.

Malfoy stepped pompously forward and bowed to the creature which was quick to curtsies. He smirked triumphantly and patted the Hippogriff on the head.

"This is very easy," Draco drawled, loud enough for Neville to, hear him. "I knew it must have been, if Longbottom could do it… I bet you're not dangerous at all, are you?" he said to the Hippogriff. "Are you, you great ugly brute?"

It happened in a flash; one moment Malfoy was lazily patting the Hippogriff, the next he was lying on the ground, bleeding out of his arm and Hagrid was wrestling Buckbeak back in his collar.

"I'm dying!" Draco yelled as the class panicked. "I'm dying, look at me! It's killed me!"

"Yer not dyin'!" said Hagrid, who had gone very white. "Someone help me — gotta get him outta here —"

Hermione hurriedly opened the gate to the fence as Hagrid picked up Malfoy and ran with him up the slot and towards the castle. The rest of the class hasted in bringing as much distance between themselves and the still struggling Hippogriff, while Diana wanted to go up to the creature and calm him, but Heidi pulled her out at wand point.

"They should sack him straight away!" yelled Pansy Parkinson, who was in tears.

Diana turned her blazing eyes at her and snapped. "Oh, please! Hagrid was clear in mentioning that Hippogriffs were sensitive to insult! The prat had it coming!"

Crabbe and Goyle looked like they were about to say something, but one death glare from Diana had them cowering like mice. Pansy, however, was not so easily intimidated.

"Oh, stop defending him half-blood!" Pansy shrieked. "It was his fault for letting such a brute loose around children! He should have known better!"

Heidi actually considered that a valid argument, Hagrid _should_ have known better, especially since his first class was with the Slytherins. But she was not about to clear Malfoy of charge in the situation, after all, he had been quite irresponsible himself.

"Malfoy was the one who-"

"Enough!" Heidi snapped at her sister. "Hagrid is not the only one to blame here!" she informed Pansy, and when the girl looked like she was about to protest, she silenced her with a warning glare. "But Malfoy isn't entirely guilty either," she passed.

Diana looked stunned, while Pansy gaped at her openmouthed.

Parkinson turned, still looking baffled, and hurried up to the castle. "I'm going to see if he's okay!" she shouted absentminded at her Slytherin comrades, who followed her lead, albeit at a much more leisured pace.

"How can you say that?" Diana practically screamed at her. "That's Hagrid you-"

SLAP!

It came out of nowhere, shocking every one of the surrounding crowd into dead-silence.

Diana tentatively lifted a hand towards her bruising cheek and turned to look astounded at her sister. Heidi was shaking on the spot and glaring at her twin like she'd want nothing more than to throttle her where she stood.

"That could have been you!" Heidi said in a barely controlled voice. Her breathing became erratic and she turned on her heals and bolted for the castle, her body tensed as if fearing that she'd hurt the girl if she'd stood there any longer.

Diana stood gaping at the castle doors, long after Heidi had vanished behind them, one hand held against her burning cheek. Half-an hour later, she was numbly guided by Hermione and Neville inside the castle, both of whom were throwing worried looks her way. A rather awkward aura followed the trio all through dinner, where Diana refused to eat or even mutter a word, and when they finally got up to the girls common room in Gryffindor tower, Heidi was nowhere to be found, and the invisibility cloak as well as the Marauders Map were missing…


	5. Chapter 5

**AN**: Some of Lupin's speeches are taken directly from the book.

**Chapter 5: The Boggart in the Wardrobe**

On the third floor corridor, a few door from where Hagrid's big three-headed dog had resided in their first year, you could find an empty corridor…well, what some people would consider to be an empty corridor; because, unbeknown to most people, the place wasn't as devoided of life as it might seem.

This particular corridor was larger than most, and one of the few throughout Hogwarts which had small stoned benches along one half, while the other was filled with doors standing each at regular intervals. Gigantic human sized windows covered the left half, and through it an abundant amount of light came in, making this one of the most illuminated corridors in Hogwarts.

On the second bench, unseen by anyone, there lay a small girl of about thirteen, with long dark hair and vivid green eyes. She was dressed in what appeared to be the school uniform, with a scarlet badge on which a Lion was soundlessly roaring engraved on her left shoulder. Her nose was buried in a thick scroll of parchment and a cloak which effectively covered her from sight was thrown over her head. Her eyes were resting on the parchment between her hands, but they looked distant, as if the girl was hardly registering what was in front of her.

Pity at that, because, if she'd of looked closer, she might have spotted a rather peculiar name next to that of Rubeus Hagrid and Fang the Boarhound. Though the enormous person was on the girl's mind – that and a certain red-haired twin – she was reframing from thinking about him, about everything that happened a few hours prior really. After all, she'd finally calmed down. It had taken a few good hours of violating Hogwarts' property, but in the end she had calmed down, and she was quite content with her current state of mind.

It was a peculiar numbness, like she was under a drug induced euphoria, but it was worth it. Or it had been up until a few minutes ago.

"Tempus," she murmured softly and underneath the cloak, a small puff of light was formed revealing that the time was a little past one o'clock, a good few hours pass curfew. She grimaced. Not one hour had passed from when she was supposed to take her potion and she was already feeling sick to her stomach. She dreaded thinking of how it would feel when she dropped the stinking potion.

She sight and turned the map around wanting to scan the corridor. Maybe it was time for her to head back to the Gryffindor common room.

Distant footsteps were echoing in the silent corridor and Heidi snapped her eyes towards the map, only to find a peculiar name heading her way, Luna Lovegood. She'd almost forgotten about the strange yet interesting girl she'd met on the train, and her mood lightened up considerable at the thought of having another chat with the girl.

Though, there was another person walking along the third corridor, a person whose presence did nothing to cheer Heidi up: Severus Snape. The girl was glad she'd yet to have Potions with him, because he was an infuriatingly biased bastard – contrary to her own head of house – who favored the Slytherin little rascals for no apparent reason.

Luna, the innocent little girl was walking at a leisured pace, and if she continued to do so, Snape would end up crossing that wing of the corridor before the girl got away. Dreading to think of what would happen to the Heliopath-obsessed-girl and hoping to get one over on Severus Snape, Heidi stood up from the stoned benched and made her way towards the end of the corridor, where she immediately spotted Luna, whose dirty blond hair made her as visible as a candle in a dark room. She ran up towards the girl and threw the invisibility cloak over her head in one swift motion, while squashing the blond up against the wall, just as Snape rounded the corner, with his wand lid.

Heidi's breath caught in her throat as the greasy git strode nearer and…stopped right in front of them. Her heart raced wildly in her chest as his lid wand trailed on them and his eyes narrowed. He stood that way for a few seconds, just observing the segment of the wall against which the two girls were squashed, and then seemed to shrug it of and carry on his way.

Heidi didn't dare breathe before checking the Marauders Map and making sure that the greasy-git was out of sight.

"That was a close one," a misty voice whispered in her ear, making her jump slightly. She turned to come face-to-face with the big blue eyes of Luna who had a happy little smile on her childish visage.

"Sure was," Heidi managed to say after she'd regain her composure.

"Thank you for that," Luna said idly.

"Don't mention it," Heidi waved the comment aside. "But what are you doing here?" she asked confused. "Ravenclaw tower is on the fifth floor right? Did you forget something?"

"No," Luna shook her head. "I was sleep-walking."

"Sleep-waking?"

"Yes, I find myself doing that a lot," the girl answered. "That's why I always wear shoos to bed," she pointed at her feet which had fluffy pink slippers covering them. After a closer inspection, Heidi noted that the girl was wearing one of the Hogwarts sleeping gowns rather than clothes.

"So, is sleep-waking normal behavior for you?" Heidi asked.

"Yes," the girl nodded. "It started a few years back."

"Did you go to a doctor?" Heidi asked while pulling the girl from the wall. She slowly started making her way back down the corridor and towards the spiral-stairway with one arm wrapped around Luna, and the other holding the Marauders Map. She couldn't find any other teacher beside Snape on the corridor, and the greasy-git was walking in the opposite direction.

"No," Luna answered. "I didn't want to worry my father. He might have thought that Nargles had infested my brain and would have been very worried, since no one at the hospital seems to believe they exist, and therefore they wouldn't have given me the proper treatment."

"Nargles?" Heidi asked confused.

"They are nasty little creatures mostly found hiding in mistletoes, well, any kind of flower really. My dad believes that they are invisible, so that is why so many people can not see them, but there have been some eyes witnesses…"

"I see," Heidi nodded while narrowing her eyes at the girl. They reached the spiral-stairway. "Did you want to go somewhere?"

"No," Luna shook her head. "The Nargles have yet to steal any of my belongings. They are mean like that – rather fond of playing tricks on people – they have been steeling from our dorms since my first year, but no one believed me when I told them who the culprit was."

A spark of enlightment seemed to shin in Heidi's eyes, and she guided the girl up the stairs while asking: "Did you ever try to catch them? The Nargles I mean?"

"No, they're way too quick for me."

"But if you catch one, maybe your house mates will believe you," Heidi persisted.

"No they would not," Luna said sadly. "They are invisible you see."

"Right," Heidi nodded her head.

The rest of the walk to the fifth floor was spent in relative silence, with Heidi checking the map for teachers and Luna humming an odd tune to herself. When they reached the fifth floor landing, Luna pulled on Heidi's sleeve to stop her.

"What's the matter?" Heidi asked.

"The entrance to the Ravenclaw common room is here," Luna announced and pointed at the large door located right outside the corridor which had a doorknob in the form of a bronze eagle on it.

Heidi threw a disappointed look at the door and said: "Not exactly what I'd imagined…"

"You were hoping for something more cleverly hidden?" Luna asked knowingly.

"Well, no, but this is just…"

"Way too obvious?" Luna added helpfully.

"Yeah," Heidi said.

"You know, the most efficient way of hiding something is in plain sight," Luna said.

"Not when plain sight means that it's staring you in the face! You'd have to be dumb to not notice it."

"You would have walked right pass it if I had not pointed it out," Luna remarked.

"That's because it's dark," Heidi said in her defense.

"Are you two going to continue arguing outside the common room where anyone can hear you or do you want to take this inside?" the eagle of the knob said, startling Heidi.

"No, I was just dropping Luna off," Heidi hasted in saying.

"Thank you for accompanying me," Luna said and slipped from under the cloak.

"Paul has one. Mary has none. It is the capital of the Phillipines and sits in the middle of Japan. What is it?" the knob recited. Heidi stared confused at it.

"What was that?" she asked.

"My common room does not have a password," Luna explained. "Whenever we want to enter the dorms, we have to answer a riddle that mister doorknob here asks us. If we get it wrong we have to wait until someone else comes and gives the correct answer. That can be rather trying. I heard that a first year had to wait six hours for someone to come and give him the right answer," she added as an afterthought.

"That sounds great!" Heidi exclaimed.

"You think so?" Luna asked. Heidi nodded. "Eve if you would have to wait six hours for someone to come and help you if you get stuck?"

"I wouldn't get stuck," Heidi said arrogantly.

"That you know the answer to the riddle?" Luna asked.

"Of course!" The brunet said smugly. "It's the letter P," she told the doorknob.

"Correct," the knob answered. "But that was a second grad question girl!" it warned.

Heidi shrugged it off. "So?"

The eagle refused to acknowledge her any further and gave a clicking sound, signalizing that the door was opened.

"Well than, I will be going now," Luna said and opened the door to the common room.

Heidi could barely make out some blue fabrics on which a ray of light had fallen from inside. Truth be told, she was a bit curious of how the inside of the common room looked like, but now was not the time to go exploring in other peoples' houses. She bid Luna good night and made her way up to her own common room, her headache coming back in full force now that she had noting to distract her from it.

She was surprised to find Hermione sleeping on the couch by the fire. Or maybe not.

"Herms," Heidi whispered while shaking her lightly. "You can't sleep here, it's really uncomfortable."

Hermione slowly opened her eyes and gazed up at her tiredly. "I was waiting for you," she said.

"Well, I'm here now," Heidi said while giving a tired smile. "Let's go to bed," she prompted while pulling the girl to her feet.

"You know, I'm here if you need anything," Hermione told her. "Someone to talk to or-"

"I know," Heidi cut her of. "But it's late right now," she said evasively. "Maybe tomorrow."

"Okay," Hermione nodded, and both girls made their way up to the girls' bedroom.

-OOOOOOOO-

The next few days weren't pleasant for Hermione and Neville.

Despite the fact that the twins persistently assured them that everything was fine, the two were eating at opposite sides of the table, walking on opposite sides of the hallway, and even sat at opposite sides of the classroom. Hermione and Neville were always forced between the two, like a visible and very solid wall, which marked the betrayal of trust which had transpired a few days ago.

Hermione guessed it was pride that was keeping Heidi from reconciling with Diana, and probably shame too, because she had, after all, slapped the girl in front of her classmates (Lavender would be gossiping about it for weeks). Add her stubborn demeanor to the equation and she was never gonna budge.

There were still chances for Diana to make the first step towards reconciliation the following morning…if only Heidi hadn't ignored her "Good morning" and walked right pass her like she'd failed to notice the girl.

Diana had been extremely offended by her sister's blatant refusal to acknowledge her, and therefore, the girl's own pride and stubborn demeanor had kicked in, which practically assured Hermione that she was going to have to play mediator between the two for the rest of her life.

Hermione thought that they both had somewhat of a point, but they were both too stubborn and prideful to see pass their own noses, so, she reckoned that the childish quarrel would last for a while.

And that, my dear friends, is how Thursday morning found the quartet, in their first Potions class of the year, with Heidi and Neville sitting up from and Hermione and Diana sitting at the very back (much to Hermione's displeasure).

But however morose and unfriendly the start of the day seemed to be, the phrase "the worse has yet to come" proved frighteningly accurate today, since Draco Malfoy, the evil little rascal, chose this particular day to emerge from his hiding place in the hospital wing, and swaggered in the dungeon, half way trough their Potions class like he was a heroic survivor of some dreadful battle.

Malfoy was rather displeased to find out that the seat beside Diana was already taken by Dean Thomas (who had wrestled Ronald Weasley for it), and although the boy was trying futilely to start a conversation and dropping heavy hints that he'd like to go out with her, Diana was point-blank ignoring him in favor of glaring at Heidi.

He noted with dismay that the seat beside Heidi was also taken, by… Theodor Not? Though the little rascal was diligently working on his potion, it was rather unusual of him to leave Greengrass and Davis all by themselves.

The only two available seats were the one beside Pansy Parkinson, and that one was out of the question, and the one beside Ron Weasley, who was sitting right in front of Diana's table. Draco smirked and sluggishly made his way towards Weasley's table.

"You can't sit here!" Ron said at once. Seamus Finnigan was quick to nod his head in approval to Weasley's statement.

"Why Weasley," Draco drawled arrogantly. "Are you living under the impression that you own the classroom? Your family barely has money to support you and your brothers at Hogwarts. They wouldn't have enough to buy that corner of the bench on which you're sitting." The blond settled himself besides Finnigan and sneered in Ron's fuming face. "My father on the other had does," he said boastfully. "But he prefers to invest his money in more profitable businesses, rather than the dying school of an old hoax."

Ron locked ready to lung himself at Malfoy, but Hermione furiously hissed in his ear: "Ignore him!" and Ron relaxed just a little, but still continued to glare at Malfoy as if he was the foulest being in existence.

"Sticking up for your boyfriend are you Ganger?" Malfoy said mockingly.

Hermione blushed, but turned a hard look the blonde's way. "You know Malfoy, someone who whines about like a little girl from a mere scratch, and who's only saving grace even by _his_ standards is his family's _influence_, has no right whatsoever to mock a guy like Ron, who's perfectly capable of taking care of himself without having to rely on _daddy_ to solve all his problems!"

Hermione stopped dead after finishing the statement and clapped her hands over her mouth looking truly horrified. The five people around her were all giving her bewildered look of variant level of disbelief. Draco's mouth was stuck open like that of a gold fish, while Ron looked ready to kiss her. Hermione felt strongly compelled to apologize, but then she remembered who exactly it was that she'd insulted and the word dies in her mouth.

After regaining his composure, Draco blistered and was about to counter with a snarky remark, but Diana cut him off by warning him with a death-glare and a snarled "Back off!" which had the blond reluctantly swallow up his pride and concentrate on bullying Weasley and Finnigan for the remainder of the class.

Ron stormed out of the classroom, deeply emerged in a shouting match with Dean Thomas for leaving his seat beside them. Dean for his part, countered by pointing out that Ron would have done the same, while Finnigan was stuck trying to reconcile them. Kind of like Hermione and Neville who were stuck trying to reconcile two of the most stubborn people on the planet.

No such luck.

Heidi deliberately took her time in packing up, while Diana stormed out right after Ron with Lavender and Parvati by her side.

The trio were among the last to leave the classroom, and Hermione was extremely grateful that Heidi was distracted to notice her slip away from the group. Neville, for his part, was trying to understand what he did wrong in potions because the bloody thing had turned muddy pink instead of vivid green like it was supposed to, and he was only too glad that Snape had not bothered to come near Heidi's table to reprimand him of his failed potion. Heidi simply stated that he'd added a little too much leech juice.

"Hey, Herms, why aren't you joining in the conversation?" Heidi stopped and turned around to ask her friend, and only then noticed that she wasn't there. "Where is she?" she asked.

"Maybe she went to speak with another one of the teachers again," Neville suggested.

Heidi looked conflicted. "She's been talking with a lot of teachers recently. Just when exactly is she going to recover all those classes that she missed this week?" she wondered.

Neville shrugged. "Why don't we ask her?"

"I will when I find her," Heidi assured.

"There she is," Neville said and pointed towards the spiral stairway, which Hermione was hurriedly descending.

"Where have you been?" Heidi quizzed the moment the girl reached them.

"I forgot something," Hermione said.

"In Snape's classroom?" Heidi asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I was careless," Hermione said in her defense.

"You were one of the last to leave," Heidi countered smelling something fishy at work here.

"Well, I didn't know whether to wait for you or run after Diana!" Hermione snapped. "So I was careless!"

Hermione regretted those words immediately as they left her mouth. Heidi's expression instantly turned foul.

"That's not what I-"

"Well, then you should have run after Diana if you so wanted to in the first place!" the brunet snapped and turned on her heals and stalked of in the general direction of the Great Hall.

Neville looked torn between the two, but Hermione quickly nudged him to go after Heidi.

"Don't leave her along!" she hissed at him. Neville gave her a quick nod and bolted after the brunet.

-OOOOOOOO-

Lunch was torture.

Neville had definitely kept his word about not leaving Heidi alone, but the problem was, he wasn't doing much else either. He was sitting there, barely touching his food and looking sick as he watched Heidi stab at hers with a vengeance, until the mixed ingredients molded into a disgustingly looking pasta. When Heidi took a bit out of the thing, Neville looked like he was going to throw up.

Diana was sulking next to her two loud friends who were gossiping like there was no tomorrow, while Dean Thomas' advances (he was sitting right beside her), were again ignored.

Hermione was caught up in her own thoughts and barely replying to Ron, who had left Finnigan in order to sit with her when he noticed she'd not taken her usual seat beside one of the Potter twins.

When lunch ended, Diana left Lavender and Parvati in favor of walking to class with Hermione. Since she had noticed the girl sitting all alone at lunch, and she was sure that was her sister's fault, and she was not about to let Ronald Weasley take advantage of her friend, because she still did not consider him worthy of dating Hermione.

The two girls made their way straight to class, while Heidi and Neville had to take a detour to the bathroom, because Neville had to throw up.

When the two finally reached the classroom, they thought they were late, but than noticed Professor Lupin who was barely making his way down the corridor. The two quickened their pace in an attempt to get to class before the professor, but Lupin called out to them.

"There's no need to run," he said calmly. "We'll be using a different classroom for today's lesson."

The two stopped a few feet from the class and shared a confused look as they waited for the professor to reach them.

"I'll step inside to get your classmates, for a moment. Do you mind waiting here?" Lupin asked kindly.

The two shuck their heads and after giving them both a reassuring smile, Lupin stepped into the classroom and called:

"Good afternoon," he said. "Would you please put all your books back in your bags. Today's class will be a practical lesson. You will need only your wands."

A few minutes later, Lupin walked out of the classroom, closely followed by the students who were all sending him curious glances. They walked along a corridor, where they stumbled upon Peeves, the evil poltergeist, who was planting chewing-gum in the keyhole of Filch's broom closet. Diana looked ready to hex him for being so cruel to Mr. Filch, whom she adored, but Lupin held her back.

"This is a useful little spell," he told the class over his shoulder. "Please watch closely."

"Waddiwasi!" he said and pointed his wand at Peeves. The chewing-gum shot like a bullet, straight up Peeves's nose, who whirled upright and zoomed away cursing.

The class was very much amused by Lupins' little demonstration and clapped enthusiastically.

"Shall we proceed, then?" Lupin asked while trying hard to hide a satisfied grin.

They set off again, and stopped at a classroom where Professor Snape apparently liked to come and practice his menacing stares. If the way he was looking at the students when they arrived was anything to go by, they had interrupted a very important death-glare session.

Snape left, but not before warning Lupin that Longbottom is a danger walking around on two broken legs. Lupin assured him that Neville would do fine, which made Heidi wonder whether the two did have a history together, because Lupin wasn't holding back on the argument either, though, grant his were more refined.

Lupin walked to the end of the room where an old wooden wardrobe lay. The wardrobe jumped off the wall suddenly and Lupin calmly proceeded to tell them that: "There's a Boggart in there."

Heidi wanted to hurl. She was starting to think of Lupin as something similar to a second Hagrid, e.g.: someone very friendly and gullible, but with a very bad danger-meter. Granted, a Boggart was not half as bad as a Hippogriff, but still…it had the potential to become very dangerous.

Lupin then went on to tell them a bit about the Boggart's history and general traits, but without actually revealing much ("Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces"), and then he asked: "So, the first question we must ask ourselves is, what _is _a Boggart?"

Hermione's hand shot in the air with frightening speed. Heidi laughed slightly, but then remembered that she was supposedly mad at her friend and molded her features into an expressionless mask.

"It's a shape-shifter," Hermione said. "It can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most."

After hearing that little piece of knowledge, more students became wary of the bouncing closet, some even took a slight step back.

"So the Boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form" Lupin continued. "He does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a Boggart looks like when he is alone, but when I let him out, he will immediately become whatever each of us most fears. This means, that we have a huge advantage over the Boggart before we begin. Have you spotted it, Diana?" Lupin asked, and Diana struggled to answer while ignoring Hermione who was bouncing with excitement with her hand up in the air beside her.

"Er — because there are so many of us, it won't know what shape it should take?"

Lupin beamed and praised her while Diana glowed thinking that she'd somehow managed to guess the right answer, but Heidi knew better. Lupin had already told them the answer to that question when he said that "_he (the Boggart) will immediately become whatever each of us most fears,_" which practically meant that the thing have to turn into about 30 things at the same time, which was, of course, impossible.

Heidi studied the professor a little while longer. The way he so smoothly and cleverly, disguised useful information into small talk ("I once saw a Boggart make that very mistake — tried to frighten two people at once and turned himself into half a slug. Not remotely frightening."), capturing the children's attention and interest. The way he skimmed through important information making them seem "simple" and trivial was truly fascinating. In fact, Heidi was so caught up with analyzing the teacher in front of her, that she didn't actually register when Lupin told them to "think of the thing that scares you most, and imagine how you might force it to look comical…" or when he asked them whether they were ready, or when he finally unlocked the door to the closet. In fact, Heidi only took her eyes off the professor when she heard roars of laughter echoing through the room and turned to see Severus Snape, dressed in an all out green dress trimmed with laces, with a towering hat topped with a moth-eaten vulture and a huge crimson handbag, which was dangling from his right hand.

She recognized Augusta's preferred outfit in an instant and burst out laughing, more hysterically than anyone there.

The Boggart paused confused and Lupin suddenly shouted: "Parvati! Forward!"

Parvati walked forward, face set. Snape rounded on her, and after an echoing crack, it turned into a mummy, its sightless face was turned to Parvati and it slowly began advancing on her.

"Riddikulus!" cried Parvati.

And the mummy's legs got tangles in its sheets. The mummy fell, face-first and its head rolled around on the ground. Everyone howl with laughter.

"Seamus!" roared Professor Lupin.

Crack! The mummy had turned into a banshee, and a terrible screech came out of its mouth.

"Riddikulus!" shouted Seamus and the banshee choked and fell silent. More laughter ensured.

As she continued to gaze upon the poor tortured Boggart and laugh at the unfortunate creature's misery, a thought suddenly sprang up in Heidi's head: She too was expected to confront the Boggart!

Her humor was gone in an instant as the creature in front of her turned into a simple bloody eyeball before taking on the shape of a mouse. The thing could turn into anything the person feared, _anything_ at all…! And she'd been so emerged into studying Lupin that she'd failed to learn how to confront it.

She tried to study the other children and picked up a word: Riddikulus. But the word had meaning behind it which she'd completely missed!

_Crack!_ The Boggart turned into a severed human hand.

"Riddikulus!" Yelled Dean and the hand was caught into a mousetrap.

So what was the trick behind it, Heidi wondered furiously. _What does the Latin word mean?_

She searched her mind, but came out blank, and suddenly… its gaze landed on her.

_Crack! _

The laughter in the room dies out instantly.

Standing in the place of the Boggart, looking tall, imposing and menacing, was a cloaked figure with ruby-red eyes and silver-blood dripping out of his mouth. It lifted a bony hand, and his lips part long enough for one word to come out of them: "_Heidi_!"

It was such a simple word, so many people had said it before, yet none could muster the dark, that serpentine sound like _he_ could.

Heidi didn't know whether she was scared or elated. The sound sent pleasant chills running down her spine yet the sight was gruesome and morbid.

Everyone around her was screaming hysterically and bolting for the door, but Heidi was held in place. She didn't know whether it was the fear crawling under her skin that kept her there, or the anticipation of having those rough and demanding lips on hers once more. She could almost taste the copper liquid on her mouth.

Voldemort glided forward, just like he had that time in the forest, his hand outstretched, as if reaching out towards her. Heidi's breathing stopped, but her hear was racing. A part of her wanted to reach out and lose herself in his arms like she'd wanted to so many times, but another part of her screamed at her to run!

"NO!" a piercing scream, louder than any around her reached her ear, and before she could register what was happening, someone knocked straight into her, sending them both crashing to the ground. Lupin had moved in front of her and Voldemort disappeared with a puff of smoke and a loud crack, and in his place, a silver sphere appeared which Lupin hastily dismissed with a quick "Riddikulus!"

The sphere popped open, like a balloon struck by a needle and flew around up until it slammed back into the wardrobe from whence' it came.

Professor Lupin turned briskly around and helped the two girls up to their feet.

"Are you alright?" he asked concerned.

Heidi nodded numbly, while Diana gave a stiff nod and clutched the brunet's hand in a tight grip. Hermione and Neville weren't standing far behind.

"I think it would be best if you went to see Madam Pomfrey," Lupin advised.

"We will," Hermione assured. "Thank you, Professor."

The curly-haired grabbed a hold of Heidi's other hand and the two girl began dragging the brunet out of the classroom, with Neville trailing slightly behind them.

-OOOOOOOO-

**AN**: I'm just curious, what did you think Diana and Heidi's Boggarts would be?


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: **Guys… I am terribly sorry… but bear with me for the first third!

**Chapter 6: You see, the problem is…**

Heidi was rushed to the hospital wing by her sister and Hermione. Madam Pomfrey looked anything but pleased.

"I wasn't expecting you here this early in the year?" she said.

"Nothing's wrong with me!" Heidi nearly shouted panicked when she saw the nurse make her way towards her.

"Then, why did you come here fore?" asked Madam Pomfrey confused.

While Diana and Neville started recounting the tale from Lupin's classroom, Hermione suddenly turned to Heidi, the same expression of dread clouding her voice. Because there was really nothing wrong with Heidi, aside from the whole _I'm hooked on two potions_ thing. If Madam Pomfrey decided to give the girl, even a small, innocent, routine exam, she was bound to find out about the addiction, and Heidi was not at all ready to deal with that.

"A boggart?" squealed Madam Pomfrey suddenly, making Hermione and Heidi jump a little. And then the nurse's expression softened into a smile. "I'm afraid there's no better cure for a little scare then a nice, big chunk of chocolate," the nurse rushed in her office and came back out carrying a big chunk of white chocolate with her. "Here you are dear!" she handed it to Heidi and encouraged her to eat it.

"That's it?" asked Diana somewhat disappointed.

Heidi, looking truly relieved, accepted the chocolate enthusiastically. "Thank you Madam Pomfrey! I'm sorry to bother you with such petty matters, when I'm sure you have so much more important things to do," the girl spluttered as she hastily made her retreat toward the door, but Madam Pomfrey's eyes took on a critical look.

"Wait!" Madam Pomfrey called her back, just as Heidi reached the door. "Actually, you don't look so well, Miss Potter," the nurse said slightly troubled. "I think it best if I gave you a routine check – as a precaution!" the nurse assured. "You're looking a little pale, and those circles under your eyes are more pronounced than last time. Have you been having any sleeping problems?" the nurse inquired.

"Well, my period started a couple of days ago, so, I've been loosing a lot of calcium lately…" Heidi spluttered hopping to bluff her way out of the examination. She couldn't let Madam Pomfrey go through with it; the nurse was bound to pick up _something_ wrong with her! And when she did… it was all down hill from there.

"You're what?" Diana asked confused. Neville looked baffled as well, while Hermione felt like scolding them for their ignorance.

"The much more reason to examine you," said Madam Pomfrey. "Please sit down," she indicated a bed close to her. "And if the rest of you wouldn't mind waiting outside…"

Heidi turned white as a chalk in the matter of instances. Hermione dragged Diana and Neville out of the room, while shooting Heidi apologetic looks. She closed the door softly behind her, while praying for the best and expecting the worse.

Left all alone with only the nurse in the room, Heidi's nerves stared to crack. Madam Pomfrey was smiling encouragingly at her and beckoning her to sit on one of the beds so that she could begin her examination, and assuring her that she had nothing to fear.

"I don't want you to examine me!" Heidi said suddenly, baffling the nurse.

"Wh-why," the nurse found herself asking, unable to think of anything else. It wasn't due to a lack of trust, since she'd examine Heidi before. Was she embarrassed? Perhaps, since her period had started, and therefore, she'd entered in her preadolescent teens, and so, become more self-conscious of her body, but that had…oh.

"Are you," the nurse almost didn't dare to ask the question, but she had to for her own nerve's sakes. "Are you pregnant, Miss Potter?"

"Wha-?" Heidi asked dumb-struck by the sudden question. "What? N-no! NO! I'm not!"

Madam Pomfrey heaved in a sigh of relief.

"Do girls who get pregnant at thirteen actually exist?" Heidi asked doubtfully.

"Unfortunately," Madam Pomfrey said. "The youngest in out record was twelve. Though, thankfully, that didn't happen while I was in office," the nurse added as an afterthought.

"Don't wizards have some way of preventing these things from happening?" Heidi asked.

"Oh, of course they do," Madam Pomfrey assured. "But since hormonal teens are not exactly the reasonable types…" she trailed off while shacking her head. "Well, Miss Potter," the nurse turned to her with narrowed eyes and hands folded. "Why won't you let me examine you?"

"I can't tell you," said Heidi in a small voice, while fidgeting on the spot.

"Oh, come now, Miss Potter," the nurse began sounding exasperated. "I swore an oath of secrecy when I got my doctorate regarding my patient's condition! Whatever you tell me, will not leave this office!" she assured.

"No matter what, you say…?" Heidi asked doubtfully, and the nurse assured her with an impatient nod of her head.

The brunet took a minute to consider this. She had decided to go to Madam Pomfrey for help the moment she got to Hogwarts, but she was a little reluctant in doing so. After all, what if the nurse said that she was unable to treat her condition? What if she pressed her to go to Saint Mungo's for help? The doctors at the hospital were bound to inform her parents… And either way, she didn't know what the exact nature of the vow was. What if there was a loophole there which gave the nurse permission to disclose information to parents, or the headmaster under certain circumstances? It's not like an addiction problem would be taken lightly in the Muggle world. What assured her that the wizarding world was any different?

"Miss Potter," the nurse's irate voice snapped Heidi back to reality. "I can submit an official petition to the Headmaster in order to examine you, on the basis that you are refusing consultation, and are, therefore, endangering your own well being by neglecting to take proper care of yourself," the nurse informed her. "And then, I will be required to inform the headmaster, of any and all findings regarding your physical health! Not to mention your parents!"

Heidi felt like fainting from just hearing those words, her knees gave-way, and she was forced to lie on the bed.

"By Merlin girl, what could you have possibly done to warrant such a reaction?" the nurse asked as she made her way towards the now pale looking girl.

"I want a vow of secrecy!" Heidi said. Madam Pomfrey came to a halt right beside her bed, startled.

"But, I already told you that I swore a vow-"

"I don't care!" Heidi snapped interrupting the nurse. "I want you to swear to _me_ that you will not reveal my condition to anyone without permission!" the girl said desperately. "If you don't…" Heidi's expression suddenly turned fowl. "Then, I _dare_ you to try going to the Headmaster for that petition! Because, I swear to you that I'll run away! And it will be all your fault, if I run into Black along the way and turn up dead in a ditch somewhere!"

"There's no need for such harsh threats Miss Potter," Madam Pomfrey said, more than a little offended. "I pride myself in being a professional, and have always protected my oath with regards to my patients' condition, but if that alone will not suffice, than I will most definitely make an individual oath with you, if absolutely necessary," the nurse assured.

"Well, excuse me for replying evenly to your threat about going to the headmaster!" Heidi snapped, feeling more than a little crossed with the nurse.

Madam Pomfrey recognized her mistake and apologized: "Very well, then. If an oath is what you want, an oath is what you get." Madam Pomfrey placed her right hand on her heart and said: "I, Poppy Pomfrey, swear on my magic, to not reveal any secret that, you, Heidi Potter, disclose onto me, without your specific permission." After she finished her oath, a small flack of light shone over her right hand and turned into a golden lock, which slowly sank inside Madam Pomfrey's heart, sealing the oath.

"Satisfied?" the nurse asked.

"Of course," Heidi responded with a victorious smirk on her face. "Though, I'm rather curious to know why you accepted to take the oath?"

"You're not the first and only capricious person in this school Miss Potter," sighed an annoyed Madam Pomfrey. "I've had to deal with your kind a few more times then I would have liked to."

"Hmm," Heidi looked intrigued by the statement. "I take it that you've made other oaths like these before?"

"Certainly," the nurse replied. "Children nowadays, are rather mistrusting of adults, not to mention, extremely arrogant," here she shot Heidi a sharp look, "they wouldn't so much as blink if they didn't feel like it! So, in shorts, yes, I have dealt with your kind before, and I've yet to lose my magic because of it."

"That is a commendable feat," Heidi said giving the nurse a bright smile, though, on the inside, she felt like sneering at the person's stupidity. The fact that she'd yield to the oath so easily, proved that none of the other kids had used it to their advantage. Caught up in trying to earn Heidi's trust, the nurse had forgotten to set a time limit, and in failing to do so, she'd practically sworn that she'd keep any secret that the girl told her from now on to herself, indifferent of the nature of said secret. The poor nurse could definitely be forced into keeping things like murder and the like to herself so long as Heidi proclaimed it to be a secret; kind of like a priest bound by some mystic oath. She was definitely dumb for an adult.

Heidi violently shuck her head when she realized the direction in which her thought had traveled. She felt slightly uncomfortable with it, though, that didn't change the fact that it was true. Poor Madam Pomfrey was only trying to help; she shouldn't take advantage of people like that.

"You should be more careful with the way you fraise your oath from now on," Heidi warned. "Because, you've just sworn that you'll never reveal any secret that I tell you from now on till the end of your life, you know."

"I-I did?" Madam Pomfrey said uneasy.

"Mm hmm," Heidi nodded. For some reason, she felt slightly annoyed with herself for telling the nurse that.

_Well, it's not like she can change her oath now_, a little voice inside her head whispered malevolently, irking the brunet. She felt like stomping the voice and shouting at it that she wasn't _that_ evil, but it would be useless to argue with herself. Because, the voice was right! However unsettling it might be, it was right. And it was the nurse's fault anyway for being stupid.

"I'm an addict!" Heidi said bluntly, surprising the nurse, who was, up until a moment ago, brainstorming in an attempt to find a way to get out of the troublesome oath, or maybe set up a time limit.

After a few moments of staring baffled at the brunet, the nurse sighed annoyed.

"I should have known," she said almost as if scolding herself. "If it isn't one evil, it's the other."

"I take it I'm not the only one who came to you with this kind of problem," Heidi remarked.

"No, you're not the first Quidditch Player to come to me with this kind of problems," the nurse said drily, drawing Heidi's interest. "You are the first one to ask for an oath though."

"Quidditch players come to you with addiction problems?" asked Heidi bemused.

"Yes," the nurse answered giving the girl a disapproving look. "It's the most common of problems among them. Though, I've only had one more female case before, it's definitely not unheard of. What are you using?" the nurse asked as she pulled out her wand. After muttering an incantation, the tip of the wand grew bright blue and the nurse proceeded to drag it over Heidi's form.

"Wiggenweld Potion and Draught of Living Death," Heidi answered.

"Wiggenweld Potion?" The nurse stopped to give the girl a confused look. "_And_ Draught of Living Death?" Heidi nodded.

"What?" asked the brunet in an amused tone. "Did you think I was on some kind of steroids to help me perform better for Quidditch?"

"Well, yes," madam Pomfrey admitted a little confused. "But neither one of those potions would help you improve your Quidditch abilities, quite the contrary," the nurse said slightly worried, "you shouldn't be able to play at all if you really are addicted to those two potions."

"I kind of noticed that," Heidi said. "On my birthday, there was this incident with Hermione, and I was forced to mount a broom in order to save her. But I got really dizzy when I took off, and when I landed, but I'd dismissed that as a side effect of the broom's speed. It was really fast compared to my own Nimbus."

"Your birthday?" the nurse asked confused. "You were-… since when exactly did you start taking the two potions?" the nurse asked sharply.

Heidi laughed sheepishly and said in a small voice: "Since my last Quidditch match."

For a moment, Madam Pomfrey stared dumbstruck at her. Then, she yelled: "Are you INSANE! Five MONTHS! You've been addicted to TWO potions for FIVE MONTHS! Do you have any idea what you-… are you that-… how could you be so-…" the nurse blistered as she struggled to find words to express her feelings, and, after a long break, finally settler for an: "And I though you were smart!"

"Well, I am," Heidi defended. "But I couldn't sleep!"

"Then you should have come to me for advice!" Madam Pomfrey snapped. "I hope you at least had enough common sense as to not take those potions every day?" the nurse warned. Heidi gave another sheepish smile, which only served to anger the nurse further.

She turned on her heals and headed towards the door.

"Excuse me," the nurse said sharply as she opened the door, startling Hermione, Neville and Diana, who were patiently waiting outside. "But I would like to keep Miss Potter here for today, in order to observe her condition. You may return to class!" With that, she banged the door to the hospital wing shut.

The three kinds stared dumbfounded at the closed door. Then Diana snapped out of her stupor and asked: "What for?" she made a dash for the door, but Hermione stopped her.

"Wait!" the curly-haired shouted. "You shouldn't go in there!"

"Why?" Diana asked.

"Well… am…because," Hermione tried thinking of a reason but she came out blank.

"Be-because, your sister is…am…going through…am… a terribly difficult faze right now!" Hermione nodded her head as a sudden idea struck her. She pulled Diana aside and whispered. "She's going through a though change, that every woman goes to," she assured, "even you will, eventually. And, am, well, Madam Pomfrey is, am… trying to help her deal with the issue! Yes, that's it! She's trying to help her deal with the issue!"

"What issue?" asked Diana confused.

Hermione peaked suspiciously in Neville's direction. The boy was giving them a peculiar look, but wasn't making any move to come closer. Then she turned to look at Diana and whispered something in the red-hairs ear.

"WHAT?" Diana yelled suddenly, startling Neville. "And t-th-that really happens? Is that really natural?" asked the red-haired in a panic-filled voice.

"Mm hmm," Hermione nodded solemnly. Diana looked distraught.

"What's wrong?" Neville asked, coming up from behind Diana and startling the red-haired even more.

"Wrong? Nothing's wrong!" The red-haired hasted in assuring. "We were just-… nothing! Nothing's wrong!" Her voice was an octave too high for nothing, and she was squinting and squirming under Neville's distrustful gaze. "Am, aren't we late for class?"

"Lunch!" Hermione said.

"Yes, lunch!" Diana corrected, as she and Hermione grabbed a hold of Neville and dragged him from the hospital wing.

"But, but we already had lunch," Neville tried to say, but the two girls wouldn't listen, insisting that it was time for lunch.

-OOOOOOOO-

For the remainder of the day, Neville was left wondering what had happened to Heidi. When diner came around and the brunet failed to make an appearance, the boy seriously pondered about whether he should try and convince Hermione or Diana to tell him what was up.

Diana was currently sitting across from him, and was having a hushed discussion with her two loud friends. He didn't know what it was about, but it didn't look like they were talking about a pleasant subject, if the way their expressions shifted between various levels of disgust was anything to go by. Dean Thomas had been sitting beside her a few minutes ago, but since they started their little talk, Lavender had shooed him away, so, now the boy was sitting on his left, and energetically talking with Seamus about the approaching Quidditch season.

Hermione was on his right, and she was making small talk with Ron, who was sitting on her right, while trying to not exclude Neville from the conversation. He appreciated the gesture, really, he did, but it made him feel like he was getting in the way of her fun. So, he turned to talk to Seamus instead.

And just when the two started talking about the Wasps and Falcon game, and he was about to pitch in, he saw a long strand of red hair, a slight darker color than Diana's, and his attention was redirected to the person a few rows ahead, who was barely touching her food and sighing softly, Ginny Weasley.

She looked so lonely sitting there all by herself, surrounded by masses of people who refused to acknowledge her existence, in spite of how beautiful she was. He gazed longingly at her, and wondered whether he could muster the courage to go and sit beside her, keep her company for the rest of the meal. After all, they were both along, maybe he could…

His gaze was stuck on those brown orbs, and he noticed, that she too, had that dreamy look in her eyes, which could surely be fond in his. Tracing her look slowly, his gaze landed on the Hufflepuff table, more specifically, on Cedric Diggory. The older boy was looking at their table with interest, and apparently searching for something.

His heart fell. So Ginny liked Cedric. He turned his head to the ground and started picking at his food moodily. When diner ended, he was the first one to leave for the dorm.

"Hey! Wait up!" a voice called out to him. Neville turned slowly around to see who it was.

"Neville Longbottom, right?" It was Cedric Diggory who was calling out to him. Neville panicked. Had he seen him stare? Was the older boy about to abolish him for looking at his girlfriend?

"Yeah," Neville said uneasily.

Cedric came to a halt a few feet away and spoke: "I was wondering… Heidi, she wasn't at diner. Where is she?"

Neville stared at Diggory dumbstruck for a few moments, wondering why he would ask him about Heidi of all tings. Then he remembered! Last year, before Heidi's last Quidditch match he'd caught the boy kissing her on the cheek! That's right! Diggory liked Heidi! He didn't like Ginny, he liked Heidi! An overwhelming sense of joy filled Neville as he realized that.

"She's sick," Neville hurriedly answered. Cedric's face immediately clouded with worry, assuring Neville that he had drawn the right conclusion, and that the boy truly did like Heidi over Ginny. "You should go see her!" Neville said, before the other boy could utter a single worn. "She's in the hospital wing with Madam Pomfrey! You should go see her before curfew!" Neville encouraged, and Cedric, still looking dumbstruck, nodded his head.

"Right! I should," Cedric said and took of in a haste.

Neville watched him go, feeling extremely satisfied. He still had a chance with Ginny, if Cedric didn't like her, he definitely still had a chance!

"Hey, Nev!"

It was Ron Weasley's voice that called out to him this time. Neville spun around to give him a wide grin, and his grin only widened when he saw Hermione and Ron sitting so close to each other, and both looking as red in the face as a tomato; and of course, Ginny was standing beside them.

"We were about to head up to the common room," Ron said, looking flushed. "Do you want to come and play wizards' chess with us?"

Neville smiled brightly and nodded his head. "Sure! Diana's not coming?" he asked as he made his way towards the spiral stairway, the other three followed closely behind him.

"No, she isn't done gossiping," Hermione said.

"Where was Diggory going?" Ginny asked.

"Haven't a clue," Neville lied, and felt very bad for doing so. But he quickly blew that thought from his mind. He was with Ron, Hermione and Ginny, a group of four, almost like two pairs of couples going out to have a good time, and he'd be damned if he let Diggory ruin his mood.

-OOOOOOOO-

A knock on the door to the hospital wing startled the nurse and made Heidi look up with interest.

She'd been stuck hearing the nurse go on and on about how unconscious and suicidal she was of a few good hours now, so, any sort of distraction would be welcomed right about now.

The nurse went to answer the door and exclaimed surprised: "Mister Diggory!"

Heidi's head shot up at hearing the name. Diggory? What was Diggory doing here?

The nurse asked the question for her: "What brings you hear Mister Diggory? Are you feeling ill?"

"No, nothing of the sort," Cedric assured. "I'm actually here to see Miss Potter. Neville Longbottom said that I'd find her here."

"Yes, I'm here," Heidi said waving at him.

Madam Pomfrey glared at her. "Make it brief," she warned Diggory. "She needs a lot of rest!"

"Of course," Diggory nodded.

Madam Pomfrey let him in, and then she promptly made her way to her office and shut the door behind her.

Cedric cautiously approached the bed, while studying her features, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

Heidi smiled. "What? Is there something on my face?" she asked jokingly.

"You look tired," Cedric noted.

"I am," Heidi said. "Madam Pomfrey's been scolding me for hours!" she made and exaggerated gesture with her head. "I'm glad you came just in time to save the little nerves I have left in my head."

"I'm glad I could be of help," Cedric said, smiling brightly at her. Then his face fell and he asked: "Why are you in the hospital wing? Was the boggart incident really that scary?"

"Oh, so you've heard about the boggart thing! My, my, news sure travels fast in a big place like this," she shuck her head slightly irritated.

"After lunch it was the main topic flying around the school," Cedric told her. "The second years said that it was the most terrifying sight they had ever seen in a classroom."

"Well, they clearly haven't seen enough," Heidi commented wryly. "Hagrid's three-headed dog, Fluffy, was way more frightening than Voldemort would ever be!"

Cedric flinched slightly at the name, but made no attempt to scold her for using it. "Considering the fact that your boggart turned into You-Know-Who and not this Fluffy dog, I beg to differ."

Heidi glared at him. "Well, that's because Fluffy could actually be rather cute when it was waging its tail happily and behaving like a cute puppy," she said moodily, a pout making its way on her face.

"I'm sorry," Cedric apologized. "I didn't mean to upset you."

Heidi shuck her head. "No, you weren't the one to upset me," she assured. "It's just been a stressful day and I'm a little cranky right about now."

Cedric nodded his had in understanding and they both fell into a companionable silence for a few minutes, each lost in their own though. Heidi, the first to become uncomfortable with the silence, decided to resume the conversation by asking:

"So, how's school going?"

"It's going great actually," Cedric said. "School was never a problem, since I've always liked learning, it's never been much of a big deal. What worried me is the fact that Prefects have night patrols, and my first night-patrol is due to start on Friday. The six and seven year students are going easy on us, since they've given us more day-time patrols and just a few night shifts here and there. But they promised that we won't be so sheltered for the second semester."

Heidi looked confused. "Prefects do night patrols?"

"Yes," Cedric nodded. "After all, Hogwarts is a pretty big place, and the teachers can't cover all the ground by themselves."

"So, they let you guys walk around at night all alone and patrol the corridor?" Heidi asked confused.

"No, we're split in pairs, and of course we don't stay up all night. We get two shifts," Cedric explained. "The first shift at eleven-thirty, where we search the designated area once, or twice, and then we return to our dorms, and then the second one is at four-thirty. It's not like we stay up all night, it's just that the shift at four is rather inconvenient, is all."

Heidi nodded. "I see what you mean, especially if it's during school days."

"Well, for my first shift, I got lucky and got the four-thirty round, so, I'll tell you all about it after Friday. Maybe it will give you some insight and help you decide if you want to become a prefect or not," Cedric said jokingly.

"Well then, I'll be anxiously awaiting to hear about your first venture into the Hogwarts night-shift. Hopefully you'll have some interesting stories to tell me on Saturday," Heidi said.

"That is, if you get out of the hospital wing by Saturday," Cedric said.

"Oh, don't worry! I'm stuck here for tonight just because of a little anemia I developed during the summer. I'll be out by tomorrow," Heidi assured.

"That's great to hear," Cedric said looking relieved. "So, you don't have anything planed for Saturday?" he asked hopeful.

"Nothing important as far as I'm aware of," Heidi replied.

"Then it's a date?" Cedric asked, taking Heidi a little by surprise.

The brunet blushed furiously and nodded her head. She smiled brightly at Diggory and said: "Yeah, it's a date!"

Cedric offered her a smile of his own, and as he leaned in slightly closer, he whispered: "Then I'll see you on Saturday." In a mischievous tone, like it was some sort of secret promise between the two that no one else was allowed to know about. He then tilted his head to the side and gave her a peach on the cheek, making Heidi already flushed cheeks turn a brighter shad of red, and after flashing another brilliant smile, he stood up and left.

Madam Pomfrey emerged from her office after she heard the door close, and after taking one look at Heidi's flushed cheeks, she chuckled slightly, and then placed her hand on her forehead.

"You have a fever," she said. "Any butterflies in your stomach I should be aware of?"

Heidi's cheeks turned redder than a tomato as she threw a dirty look the nurse's way. "I don't have a fever!"

"No, not a real fever," the nurse agreed. "But I do hope that you have more common sense than the girls I've told you about earlier," Madam Pomfrey warned.

"The girls?" Heidi asked confused, and then she remembered just who exactly those girls were and what they did and her cheeks started flushing again. "Of course I have more common sense than that!"

"We'll see…I'll bring your medicine," the nurse said in a doubtful voice and headed for her office once-more.

-OOOOOOOO-

After she finished gossiping with her friends, Diana went straight to the girl's common room. She didn't even pay Hermione much though, who was sitting in an armchair by the fire and playing chess with Neville, Ron and Ginny (well, more like, the three had ganged-up against Ron). She apologized hastily while claiming to be too tired, and left the group in a hurry.

Once she was inside the girl's common room, she jumped on her bed and threw the curtains around her. She then pulled out a small wooden box from underneath her pillow.

Diana's face took up a smug look as she gazed fondly at the box, and watched with no little fascination as the object in her hand began to shift shapes before her eyes. It turned into a small, tattered old diary. She giggled. Her two month's work had finally paid of, and she was able to conceal the diary from anyone else, so that it would look like a normal brown wooded box.

After peeking behind the curtains one more time and making sure no one was there, she opened the diary and began writing in it.

_Tom, are you there?_ She asked and waited for the boy to respond. The ink vanished like it was being absorbed by the pages of the diary, and in its place, a reply from the owner appeared.

_Of course I'm here. Where else would I be?_

_Could you please pull me in?_ Diana wrote back enthusiastically. _I have so much to tell you!_

_Alright__, w_as the simple reply, and the pages of the diary suddenly started glowing pure gold. Diana felt herself falling into empty space and closed her eyes, as the blurs and lights around her mashed to form the shape of a room.

It didn't exactly look like the Gryffindor common room, but Diana had no doubt it was one. And considering the abundant amount of green which decorated the walls and furniture, she was sure it was the Slytherin common room; after all, Tom was a Slytherin, you could easily tell that by looking at his school uniform.

"Welcome back, milady!" A soft, slightly teasing voice greeted her.

Diana turned towards the sound of the voice, and found Tom sitting one the sofa next to the fire place.

"How was your day?" he asked and beckoned her to take the seat beside him.

"Horrible," Diana whined as she dumped herself on the sofa.

Tom quirked an eyebrow at her. "How so?" he quarried as he slipped his hand around her neck and pulled her slightly closed.

Diana turned scarlet in a matter of seconds and said in a meek voice: "It was just horrible."

"Meaning?" Tom pressed on, the hand around her neck started tracing small circles on her shoulder, making goose-bumps run down Diana's spine.

"W-well, my sister kept ignoring me all the way up till lunch," Diana started to say, while stuttering slightly, but then her voice became firmer as she remembered Hermione's betrayal. "And Hermione chose to sit with Weasley at lunch _and_ diner and then there was that boggart incident." Her voice grew week once-more.

"Boggart incident?" asked Tom.

"Yes, we had out first Defense Against the Dark Arts class, and professor Lupin thought it would be interesting to show us a boggart," Diana told him. "And it was, really fun, up until it got to my sister…"

"Your sister? What happened to your sister?"

"Well, she… am," Diana looked a little conflicted about how she should faze her next sentence, so Tom decided to help her out a bit.

"What did the boggart turn into?" he asked curiously, his hand stopped its movement on her shoulder as he patiently waited for an answer.

"Voldemort," Diana said drily, a gloomy expression clouding her features.

"Voldemort?" Tom repeated with interest, his brows furrowing. "How did he look like?"

"Well," Diana struggled to remember and said: "I couldn't exactly see his face," she admitted. "It was covered with this long black hood. But he looked scary and bony and I think there was blood or something of the like dripping from his mouth." She shivered. "It was really scary. My sister told me that she'd seen him in first year, but I didn't believe her when she said he was ugly up until now."

"Why? Were you expecting him to be handsome?" Tom asked, a slight smirk spread on his face as his hand resumed drawing circles on her shoulder, and Diana found herself shivering for a whole different reason.

Diana flushed and slightly nodded her head. "Well, I find it hard to believe that a whole army of people would follow and ugly leader blindly," she said. "Heidi once said that a leader should be charismatic, intelligent – though my sister was leaning most towards sly, able – as in a source of inspiration for his subordinates – and… hmm, what was the last one…?"

"Prudent, probably," Tom suggested.

"Yes, that was it!" Diana nodded. "And, well, and ugly leader isn't exactly charismatic," she said as means to conclude her argument.

Tom laughed slightly. "Your sister might have nailed down some of the crucial qualities a leader must posses, but she overlooked an essential factor."

"What might that be?" Diana asked curiously.

"Well, she overlooked the 'who' and 'what' of the equation," Tom said, and at seeing Diana's confused expression he elaborated. "The 'who' represent the people the leader is addressing, or guiding, and 'what' represents the purpose they wish to accomplice. For example, people who are fighting for world peace will have a different opinion on what their leader should be than people who are fighting for world domination. Therefore, the essential qualities that a leader needs to posses are flexibility and the ability to read people, so that he could shape himself into something appealing for the general masses."

"Kind of like a politician?" Diana asked.

"Exactly," Tom said giving her and approving nod. "There's also determination missing from the equation, and a few other attributes not as significant as the ones mentioned above."

"Yeah, but I still think that aesthetic appeal serves as a key factor for a leader," Diana insisted.

"Most certainly," Tom agreed. "Since a lot of the people of today base their judgment of others on appearances, if a leader fails in that domain, most would not give him a chance to prove himself in others."

"So, Voldemort must have been handsome once!" Diana concluded feeling proud of herself.

Tom gave a humorous laugh and said: "Yes, I'm sure he was."

The teen placed his finger under her chin and turned her face towards him and asked: "You never told me what your boggart was?"

Dina flushed and sank a little deeper in her seat as she became entranced in the boy's alluring gaze and responded timidly: "I don't know."

Tom leaned in slightly close and purred: "Why don't you know?"

"I-I never got a turn," Diana answered as her cheeks heated up and she felt butterflies pile up in her stomach. "But I'll tell you when I do," she assured.

"Maybe you shouldn't," Tom said as the hand under her chin moved to cup the back of her head, and the other hand, which had been drawing circles on her back, traveled down to her waist. He leaned slightly forward and pulled her into his arms, as he rested his cheek on her flushed and he whispered softly into her ear: "I might use it against you."

"N-no, you won't," Diana said weekly as she buried her head in Tom's shoulder. "I know you won't… because I trust you…"

Tom smirked at hearing that. "You do, don't you?" he purred as he turned his head slightly and kissed her cheek lightly.

"Y-yes, I do," Diana answered in a breathless voice, as she felt pleasant shivers run down her spine and the place where Tom's lips had just been still burning hot.

"I am grateful that you hold me in such high regards," Tom said as he placed another kiss on her neck this time, making Diana practically melt in his arms.

Tom cupped her face in his hands and pulled her back slightly.

"I've been meaning to ask you something," he said.

"What?" asked Diana looking dazed.

"Well, lately, you haven't been visiting me or writing in my diary as much as before, so I have been getting extremely bore here all alone…" Tom trailed of looking slightly dishearten.

"I'm sorry, but I have been busy with-" Diana started to apologize, but Tom placed his finger on her lips, electively silencing her.

"I don't blame you, of course," he assured and as his finger began slowly trailing the bottom of her lip. "That's why I though of a solution to our little problem."

"And-" Diana tried to speak, but Tom's finger pressed softly on her lips silencing her once more.

"I was thinking that, of course, if it isn't a bother, maybe you could bring me a book from the library for me to read while you're away," he suggested, and moved his finger from her lips to the brim of her chin.

"Of course Tom," Diana replied smiling shyly at him.

"And it won't bother you if the book is from the restricted section, will it?" he asked innocently as he leaned slightly closer and brushed the tip of his nose to hers.

"N-no, of course not," Diana assured, feeling her face hear up even more.

Tom rewarded her with a content smile, and lifted his chin up in order to place a soft kiss on her forehead. "Thank you milady," he murmured as he pulled her in his arms. "You're such a little Angel."

He smirked in satisfaction as Diana buried her head in his chest and sighed lightly.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: The Black Dot on the Map**

After the disastrous first class, professor Lupin had decided to stick to monsters a little less scary for the first half of the year, and they had gone on to talk about Red Caps, nasty little goblin-like creatures that lurked wherever there had been bloodshed. This proved to be less entertaining that Boggarts, but a world less scary. And after the first few weeks, students had again started relaxing whenever they went to DADA, and Professor Lupin was on his way to becoming the favorite teacher of the entire student body.

Still, the obligatory group of haters remained, consisting mostly of Malfoy and his gang, who always picked on Professor Lupin for his patched robes and meek personality, but not many paid them any mind.

The quartet had also taken a liking to professor Lupin, seeing as, Defense was one of the few subjects in which Neville and Diana outdid the two know-it-alls, since the two were more theoretically oriented rather then practically, which was what most of the DADA class revolved around. But Hermione and Heidi were glad that for once, they were actually _learning_ defense, rather than sitting around all day and staring at someone brag about themselves, or pretend to stutter madly for a whole hour, so they weren't complaining.

In fact, Heidi and Hermione, sometimes wished that some of their other subjects could be slightly more educational oriented as Defense. Like Potions for example, where even the two know-it-alls had to admit that Snape was only being particularly nasty because Lupin was doing a good job as a teacher (jealous bastard!). Neville in particular was getting the worse end of the stick in Potions, since the one good thing that remained from the first DADA class, was Neville dressing Snape's Boggart into his grandmother's robes, a deed which Snape didn't find particularly amusing. So, every lesson, the greasy git had taken to seating Neville all alone, at the teacher's desk and sneering down on him for the entire time. Which in turn made Neville nervous, which in turn meant that he'd be distracted from his potion and end up blowing several caldrons along the way, which sequentially meant that Snape would get to inform him at the end of the lesson that he would have detention for the following evening. The girls and Ron would then spend the whole evening cursing the greasy git in various colorful ways up until Neville returned from his detention.

Heidi and Hermione were particularly hating on Snape for dropping Neville's grades from Acceptable to Troll, while Diana had begged the Weasley twins to prank the bastard out of his mind, but Fred and George (who'd been caught by the greasy git last time they tried), had shockingly refused.

Though, half way through the month Snape had been, apparently, scolded by Dumbledore for being a biased bastard (or so the students liked to believe), and so, had reduced his bullying of Neville to a minimum, meaning that the boy was back in his own bench and blowing up cauldrons while injuring the innocent bystanders. Not everyone was glad for the change, especially not those who had the misfortune of being his potion partners.

Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures Class had become a menace as well. After the Malfoy incident, Hagrid had reasoned that bringing wild creatures to class was not his brightest idea, and while Hermione and Heidi wholeheartedly agreed with him, taking care of flobberworms for a whole month was just overdoing it in their opinion.

Trelawney's class was another lesson that irked the kids. Well, three of the group, while Heidi always sat and listened fascinated as her sister and Neville would bombard her with news about Hermione's death which would always take on a more morbid and unnerving shape every time she heard of it. Though, looking at Hermione's grumpy face, the only death that she's foresee for the curly-haired was related to a nervous breakdown that the witch would have after finally snapping at the stupid teacher. It was entertaining, but it did leave Hermione in a horrible mood for the rest of the day.

The start of October, however, came with a refreshing breeze for most members of the quartet.

For Diana, it was choir lessons which Professor Flitwick managed. The choir would gather two times a week on Wednesday and Friday to practice songs for the upcoming Halloween season, which Diana enjoyed immensely. Professor Flitwick, emboldened by the choir's success from the previous year, had decided to try having the choir sing the most popular Muggle song _Nightmare On My Street_ from the very popular Muggle movie _Nightmare On Elm Street_, which was a tad creepy, but since they were supposed to reenact the part, and were actually allowed to wear costumes on Halloween, no one was complaining.

Dean Thomas had also joined the choir for some unknown reason, because he was horrible at singing, and was always picked on by Finnegan and Weasley for it.

Hermione had been glowing with excitement throughout the past couple of weeks, and Diana had a feeling that that was related to the excessive amount of time which she got to spend with Weasley. She had asked Neville to keep an eye on them, but she had a feeling that the blond boy was a lot more preoccupied with Ron's sister, Ginny, rather than Hermione, which irked her somewhat, but seeing as she was deprived of the liberty of watching her curly-haired friend 24/7, she had no choice but to rely on Neville.

For Heidi, however, not even the approaching Quidditch season which usually made her days a lot more bearable in previous years, could brighten her mood theses days, because Madam Pomfrey had warned her that she might not be able to partake in this year's Quidditch matches thanks of her precarious use of potions. Of course, the nurse couldn't have her kicked off the team, since she'd made that annoying oath, therefore, she couldn't risk telling anyone about Heidi's addiction problem else she'd be deprived of her magic for the remainder of her life. But, seeing how Heidi was more often that not struck dizzy for no apparent reason and her eyesight would suddenly go black for a few seconds, not to mention the fact that her reflexes were declining, the brunet was sure she wouldn't be able to mount a broom anytime soon. And the problem was, this thing wasn't going to go away either.

You see, the safest way to get rid of an addiction problem, was by gradually dropping the dose of the potion throughout the course of a few months, enough for the damn thing to partially clear out of the system, and then struggle through a few weeks worth of withdrawal when she'd completely drop the potion. And if all went according to plan, she'd only have to endure two weeks of withdrawal by the end of May, and then she'd be free of the stinking potion. Of course, there were side effects, like, she'd be stuck with a major sensitivity to both potions for life and there was no guarantee that her reflexes would go back to normal, enabling her from taking part in a Quidditch match again. And just her luck, seeing as this year, the Falcons were coming to Hogwarts to observe the matches in hopes of recruiting some of the most talented players. And she was probably going to fail on her first match…

She'd considered telling Wood to have tryouts for a new seeker, but she was a little reluctant to do so, not to mention a little selfish. She wanted to keep holding on to that title a little longer. And what if it turned out that she could play and Madam Pomfrey had just misdiagnosed her? It wasn't like she was addicted to actual Sleeping Potions! What if she gave up the position on the team and then found out that she could still play Quidditch? She'd kill the nurse and herself for believing her for sure! No, she would not make any rash decisions and give the dang thing time before talking to Wood. After all, she had plenty of time before November. Or so she thought.

Because, at the start of October, that Thursday, Wood called the Gryffindor team in order to discuss tactics for the upcoming Quidditch Season.

"Okay, you lot, listen up," there was a quiet sort of desperation in his voice as he addressed his six fellow team members in the chilly locker rooms on the edge of the darkening Quidditch field.

"As we all know, this year at Hogwarts, The Falmouth Falcons and the Puddlemere United teams are going to be supervising this year's Quidditch season and offer the best of us a chance to try out for the teams. Now, I don't know about you guys, but I for one, want to try my luck at professional Quidditch after I finish Hogwarts. Which means that this year is particularly special for me," Oliver said in a resolute voice. "Now, I know for a fact that we've got the _best – ruddy – team – in – the – school_!" he said punching a fist in his other hand. "We've got three _superb _Chasers!"

He pointed at Angelina, Alicia and Katy whose' chests pumped up with pride.

"We've got two _unbeatable _Beaters!"

"Stop it, Oliver, you're embarrassing us," said Fred and George Weasley together, pretending to blush.

"And we've got a Seeker who has _never failed to win us a match_!" Wood rumbled, glaring at Heidi with a kind of furious pride.

Heidi's heart plummeted at hearing the praise. She knew Wood had said it with the intention of encouraging her, but in her current predicament, the words felt more like a mockery thrown at her to remind her of what she used to be before she'd been subdued by that annoying potion.

"And me," Wood added as an afterthought.

"We think you're very good too, Oliver," said George.

"Spanking good Keeper," said Fred.

Yes, Heidi though Wood was a good Keeper. He might be able to make it to the tryouts, but she wasn't gonna be so lucky.

"My point is," said Wood looking rosy. "Each and every one of us should have a chance at taking part in those tryouts! And we'll definitely win the Quidditch Cup this year as well!"

"We'll do it, Oliver!" said Angelina.

"Oliver, this year's our year," said Fred.

"Definitely," said George patting Heidi encouragingly on the shoulder.

"Well, then," Wood said looking extremely motivated. "Let's get to it!"

The rest of the team except Heidi gave a roar of approval, and all hurriedly grabbed a hold of a broom and stormed out onto the Quidditch pitch, ready to start training. Only Heidi remained behind looking dejected. She threw a peeved look at her Nimbus 2000 and wondered whether she'd been a little too hopeful up until now and treated her addiction problem a bit carelessly. After all, while Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw weren't so much of a threat, she could clearly remember last year's Quidditch match against Slytherin, where she'd had to fight at her nastiest to beat Malfoy and his incredibly fast Nimbus 2001. And Slytherin vs Gryffindor was the first match of the season…

"Heidi, is something wrong?" the concerned voice of Oliver Wood startled her slightly.

"No, no, nothing's wrong," Heidi hasted in assuring.

"Well, then, hurry up, will you? Else we'll start without you!" Oliver winked and gave her a heartening grin and then exited the locker room. After mentally egging herself on, and taking a few deep breath, which only made her feel more sick than calm, Heidi followed Wood on to the Quidditch field, her Nimbus 2000 gripped firm in her right hand.

She tried calming her breathing as she saw Wood mount his broom and with no effort at all, begin his ascent to the skies above, and Heidi was stuck with a nostalgic feeling. She clearly remembered how natural it seemed to her last year to mount a broom, and how great it felt to be up flying in the sky with her housemates amongst the clouds. Yes, Quidditch was something she was naturally gifted at, and no amount of potion could take that away from her!

With that thought in mind, Heidi raced forward, and mounted her broom in one go, shooting up for the sky after Wood. And as she felt the vicious wind blowing in her face, and the incredible feeling of freedom overwhelm her, a pitch black darkness clouded her vision and the sudden wind, which had made her feel so wonderful a few moments ago, suddenly struck her dizzy. She leaned forward, directing her broom towards the ground, her vision blurring rapidly.

"Heidi!" Wood called and, faster than the wind, he turned on his broom and shot after her.

Heidi was about to reach the ground, but she couldn't actually see anything ahead of her, her stomach was convulsing painfully, and she lost her sense of direction. She would have smashed hard against the ground had Wood not caught her in time and steadied her on his broom. Her own Nimbus dropped on the Quidditch field with a silent thumb.

"Heidi, are you alright?" Wood asked as he slowly lowered them on the ground.

Heidi didn't respond. She violently pushed Wood aside and jumped off the broom, and then she fell on her knees and threw up most of her lunch.

After the incident the Gryffindor teams stopped practicing and rushed Heidi to the hospital wing, where Madam Pomfrey told them that due to her newly developed Anemia, she might not be able to play Quidditch this season. The teams had taken the news rather badly, Fred and George going so far as to suggest that the Slytherins had somehow poisoned Heidi in order to keep her off the team. Wood was quick to agree, and the irrational three men, went in search for Flint and his cronies in spite of Madam Pomfrey and the three girls' protests. Angelina, Katy and Alicia were quick to chase after them in order to keep them from doing something rash, while Heidi was left behind, sulking alone in one of the beds of the hospital wing with only Madam Pomfrey as company.

"I did warn you this could happen," the nurse said after some time had passed. Heidi didn't bother to grace her with an answer, nor did she lift her head to scowl at the annoying nurse. After seeing this, the nurse's expression softened a little and she told her that she'd bring her medicine for the night.

-OOOOOOOO-

Wood was forced into setting up tryouts for a new Seeker.

"It's only temporarily!" Wood had assured with a determined gaze. "When you'll be fit enough to fly, that position will still be yours!" he'd assured Heidi, and the next morning, Ginny Weasley was selected as the replacement Seeker. Wood didn't look too happy, loudly complaining that she had none of Heidi's talent, and was more fit to be a Chaser than anything, but she was the best they could find.

Heidi looked anything but pleased. And soon, the other members of the quartet joined in her sour mood.

The first Hogsmead weekend of the year had been announced on Halloween day, and the quartet were, of course, sulking because they hadn't found a way pass the Dementors yet.

Hermione was still building up a case against going to Hogsmead, and ever since Heidi's condition had been made public, she'd always use that as an excuse as to not go. Which of course made Heidi mad, which of course meant that Hermione was in for a night of bullying, which consisted mostly of this:

"Yes, well my dear, dear friend, who is so close to my heart and who I have the utmost trust in; and I am sure that there's nothing in that big heart of yours but concern for me, so, as a symbol of our friendship, I myself feel rather concerned for your sake…"

And when Hermione had been thick enough to ask her why, Heidi had responded like this:

"Well, Ron is going to Hogsmead isn't he? What if he finds some girl there which he likes? Or what if he's seeing someone else behind your back already?"

"Of course he's not!" Hermione had denied furiously.

"You can't possibly know that, now, can you?" Heidi had remarked in a rather cruel tone. "Because you can't keep an eye on him while he's in Hogsmead, now, can you?"

Hermione's resolution for her anti-Hogsmead crusade had faltered slightly. Of course, she blamed it all on the fact that she wanted to try and see whether they could make a map of Hogsmead similar to that of the Marauders Map, and had vehemently sworn that Ron Weasley had nothing to do with her sudden chance of mind.

Dean Thomas had offered to forge a signature on the forms, but everyone had disagreed, seeing as, this being the magical world, they were bound to have some method of checking whether the signature was fake or not.

"There's always the feast," said Ron, in an effort to cheer the girls up. "You know, the Halloween feast, in the evening."

"Yeah," Neville nodded looking dejected.

Hermione was shooting daggers at Ron; the concept of him having a secret girlfriend which he'd take to Hogsmead didn't seem so unreasonable now that the Hogsmead weekend was drawing nearer. And either way, Ron hadn't even bothered to ask her out, and he seemed way too happy about the trip for some reason.

On that Halloween morning, though, something happened which made the quartet forget all about Hogsmead. It happened right in the middle of the feast, as the quartet were silently eating with the other first and second years, as Heidi and Hermione were silently scooping the Marauders Map and searching for a way pass the Dementors. Heidi was staring at the Hogwarts gates and marveling at the number of black dots, and smashed together names which were pouring out of the school and slowly disappearing off the map, when a peculiar name caught her gaze. Rubeus Hagrid. The giant was standing a few strides away from the students, so his dot was in spark contrast from all the other dots which were way too many to even distinguish who was who, and right beside him, right next to Fang the Boarhound, sitting not a few inches away, was a name which Heidi had never suspected would appear on the Map for as long as the Dementors were standing outside the school. Sirius Black.

"Hermione," Heidi called weekly.

The curly-haired girl was currently preoccupied with scanning another part of the map, more specifically, the third floor corridor, where there was something brown and weird sticking out of the one-eyed witch in the corridor.

"What?" she asked in a distant voice as she scrutinized the place where the statue was. It looked almost like a door.

"I think you'd want to see this," Heidi said.

"What is it?" Hermione asked as she lifted her head to look at her. "Did you find a passageway out?" she trailed her eyes at the spot on the map towards where Heidi's finger was pointing and blinked once. Her eyes suddenly grew wide, and she blinked again as she stared at the dot on the map in disbelief. Her mouth hung open due to shock, and she turned to give Heidi a horrified look, which the girl returned.

"I'm not seeing things, am I?" Hermione asked in a small hopeful voice, thinking that, maybe she'd misread the map.

"If you're refereeing to the name of Sirius Black, then no, I doubt we're both seeing things," Heidi answered.

The two girls silently gaze at the dot entitled Sirius Black, which was still standing right next to that of Hagrid and Fang, still thinking that this was a creepy dream of some sorts, and soon, they'll wake up and find out that everything was okay.

Diana and Neville, who'd left the two earlier to work in peace, had separated, because Neville wanted to sit beside Ginny, who was looking as desolated about Diggory's absence as any fangirl of his would, while Diana, who started hating on the red-haired for stealing Heidi's position on the Quidditch team, decided to go sit beside Luna Lovegood, at the Ravenclaw table, were the girl was eating alone at a relatively secluded corner from her fellow classmates.

"Hey there Luna! Mind if I join you?" Diana asked jovially as she took a seat beside the blond-haired girl.

"Not at all," Luna said smiling at her.

Diana noted that the girls at the Ravenclaw table turned to give them a somewhat disgusted look, before quickly averting their eyes, while some of the boys looked curious and others completely ignored them.

"Not the friendly type. Your classmates I mean," Diana remarked.

"No," Luna admitted. "They are more interested in books and winning arguments then actually making friends. It is hard to say that anyone in this house is someone's friend."

"Well, that sounds boring," Diana said, looking conflicted at the other Ravenclaws.

"They do make friends you know," Luna said. "But they're more interested in making friends which have something to offer in return. Like the popular girls, who bring gossip to the equation, and the smart ones, people like that."

"So, their premise is literary friends with benefits, hah?" Diana asked looking truly disgusted. "Sounds like Slytherin," she remarked, remembering Draco's words from that time they had been sent into the Forbidden Forest together.

"Yes, but the main difference is, they are not biased towards anyone because of blood status," Luna explained. "But they are biased towards people if they consider them unworthy or stupid."

"Which means they must be very biased towards a person like me, whose grades are not so great," Diana concluded.

"No," Luna was quick to disagree. "You have status," she said. "You're one of the Girls Who Lived, which makes you a valuable friend to have to them."

"Wow, I'm flattered," Diana said in a dry voice. "So, what about you?" she asked. "Why aren't you in their circle?"

"I don't posses any of the qualities that they'd seek in a friend," Luna told her in a dreamy like voice. Despite the fact that this was an insult directed at herself, and that she was obviously excluded because of this fact, the blond girl's voice held no trail of disappointment to it, on the contrary, you might have actually thought that she was fine with it.

_Well, if I had housemates like those, maybe I myself would be glad to not fit in their circle_, Diana thought.

"They're very dumb for thinking that way," Diana told her. "And you are too for not recognizing your worth!"

"Their refusal to befriend me does not bother me," Luna told her. "We have different opinions of the world around us," she explained. "They for one think that the Crumple-Horned Snorkacks is a fictional animal created by my father just because they can't find it in a book. Likewise, I believe that not everything written in books is accurate most of the times. Therefore, I myself would not befriend such people. So I don't blame them for not wanting to befriend me."

Diana smiled, eyeing Luna with new found esteem for being true to her beliefs, even if Hermione thought they were bogus. "I still think they're missing out on a really good friend because of their insolent pride. So, do you want to come join me and my friends at our table?" Diana asked looking enthusiastic. "Since I'm sure nobody here will mind…" she shot a dirty look towards the other Ravenclaws and stood up.

Luna put down her fork and stood as well. "I'd like that," she said and proceeded to follow Diana towards the Gryffindor table. "Is Fluffy doing alright?" the blond girl asked in the same monotone dream-like voice.

"Yes. I saw him last Tuesday," Diana responded. "But I've been busy ever since and my friends and I decided to go and pay a visit to Hagrid this afternoon. Do you want to come?"

"Yes," Luna nodded. "I would like to see how he's holding up. I do hope no Heliopaths have picked on him again."

"No, nothing's picked on Fluffy again," Diana assured while laughing slightly. "He looked quite cheery, to be frank."

"That is good news," Luna said, but Diana suddenly got distracted from her. As she approached the Gryffindor table, she could see Hermione and her sister engaged in a heated argument for whatever reason, so, she quickened her pace to see what was going on.

"I'm telling you, the safest way would be to tell Dumbledore!" Hermione was whispering furiously.

"Hermione, it might be possible that Hagrid named one of his creepy plants after that person! You can't go rat him out to Dumbledore because a name appeared on a map! We have to get our facts straight!" Heidi hissed back just as furious.

"You're just saying that because you want to catch Black by yourself so you can parade around your already oversized ego! And that's why you're acting so irrationally! But Black is a lot more dangerous that-"

"Than who?" Heidi challenged. "Than Voldemort? Are you seriously going to tell me that you consider Black more dangerous that the boss of the whackos' club which he leads? Please," Heidi said in a condescending tone.

Hermione scowled at her. "Well, if you've failed to remember, Black happens to be the right hand man of the boss who leads the whackos' club! And he spent twelve years in Azkaban, the most feared wizard prison of them all, where he was subjugate to the torture of Dementors every second, thanks to your parents and you! He is dangerous and demented as well! And in my opinion, that makes him a bigger threat than You-Know-Who!"

"What are you two talking about?" Diana asked as she came up behind Hermione, Luna following close by.

"Your sister has gone mad!" Hermione said the moment she laid eyes on Diana. Heidi, however, gave an excited grin and whispered to Hermione.

"You're barking at the wrong tree!"

Hermione shot her a death glare, and after finally remembering how brash and irrational Diana was, she nearly fainted with worry as she saw Heidi pull Diana towards her and whisper something in her ear.

"Neville," Hermione snapped at him, startling the boy, who was having a rather pleasant conversation with Ginny. "Get over here!"

At hearing the desperation in Hermione's voice, Neville quickly rose from his seat and excused himself to Ginny, and then he hastily made his way towards Hermione.

Diana suddenly shot pass him, like a speeding bullet, with the Marauder's Map gripped so tight in her hand, you'd expect it to tear apart. Heidi was hot on her tail, followed closely by Luna and Hermione who stopped just enough to grab Neville by the hand and drag him after her.

"What's going on?" Neville asked as he struggled to keep up with Hermione, who ran like she was possessed. Hermione however paid him no heed.

"WAIT!" Hermione shouted after the other two. "Luna, stop them!" Hermione pleaded, but the blond first year was not fast enough to catch up with them, let alone stop them.

Heidi's eyesight suddenly flashed black and the brunet slowed down to a walk, and finally toppled her way over to a way where she rested her head against the marble surface while panting heavily. Luna came up to her and asked her if she was alright.

Hermione shot right pass them while letting go of Neville, who nearly fell flat on his face, and shouted: "Keep her there!" and then proceeded to chase after Diana who looked like a raging bull charging towards the red flag.

She was way too fast and nearly at the front door. Hermione feared she might not reach her in time, when Filch the caretaker opened the front main doors and stepped inside. The sight of him made Hermione nearly faint with relief, and, before she could topple over, she screamed in a loud desperate voice: "STOP HER!" which startled Filch half to death, but he automatically grabbed a hold of Diana as the red-haired made to dash pass him and out the door.

"Let me GO!" Diana wailed as she desperately tried to get out of Flich's grasp. Filch looked ready to release her, but Hermione stopped him in the nick of time.

"DON'T!" Hermione warned. "She's going after Black!"

After hearing those words, Filch's hold on Diana tightened, and the caretaker quickly pulled Diana back inside the Great Hall, and away from the front double doors.

"LET ME GO!" Diana screeched and desperately tried to free herself from Filch's grasp.

"Diana, you have to calm down!" Hermione pleaded.

"What in Merlin's name is going on here?" it was the voice of Minerva McGonagall, the head of Gryffindor House and Deputy Headmistress, which at once brought an eerie silence into the Great Hall, which was buzzing with excitement a few seconds ago. Hermione turned to see that the entire student body, which was not off to Hogsmead, had left their seats at the Dining table and mad their way into the hallway to see what all the fuss was about.

Diana was spitting mad with range, and silently struggling with Filch's embrace as she sorely shoot Hermione's back a death-glare, Heidi was resting against the wall, looking drained, with both Luna and Neville sitting on either side of her, and Hermione was stuck in the middle of all this dilemma, looking as guilty as a nine-year-old caught with his hand inside the cookie jar.

What could she possibly do? Should she tell McGonagall about Black so that she could deal with the situation for her, while risking that the students panicked upon hearing the current predicament, or should she lie and hope to reason her way with Diana and Heidi later on.

"Well," McGonagall tapped her foot impatiently on the ground. "Would anyone care to explain what this fuss is all about?" the elder witch asked sharply.

-OOOOOOOO-

Half an hour later, Diana, Heidi, Hermione, Neville and Luna were all piled up in Professor McGonagall's office, and the twins in particular was subjugate to Minerva's hard glare.

"I can't believe you'd be so reckless!" Minerva spoke, sounding sorely disappointed. The two girls turned to shoot Hermione a particularly nasty look which promised lots of pain.

"You will look at me when I speak to you!" Minerva snapped startling the kids. "Granger! Longbottom! Lovegood! Dismissed!" the elder witch ordered and after finishing that sentence, the three mentioned above hastily departed from the office, leaving only Minerva and the Potter twins behind.

After the door closed, the office was engulfed in silence once more. Minerva wordlessly pulled out a piece of parchment from her drawer as well as some ink, and started writing a letter.

"Are we done here?" Diana asked in an irate tone.

"No, we are not!" Minerva responded. "I'm writing a letter to your parents!" she informed them. The girls looked like they couldn't care less. "And I am also giving you detention for the following month!" now that definitely grabbed their attention.

"Detention!" shrieked Diana affronted.

"For what?" asked a very much annoyed Heidi.

"For trying to sneak out of the School with the intention of finding a mass-murderer which, as you know very well, is after you life!" McGonagall snapped.

"Yeah! My life, not yours! So I don't really see why you should give a damn!" Diana snapped right back at her.

"I happen to be your head of house Miss Potter!" Minerva reminded. "And until you leave for home at the start of July, I am responsibly for your safety! And whether you like it or not, I _will_ keep you safe!"

"Oh, please," Dina twisted her nose up in disgust. "Just expel me! You have plenty of reason to do so!"

"Diana!" McGonagall warned.

Diana looked like she was about to say something else, but Heidi halted her. "Enough!" the red haired fell instantly silent at the command of her sister's angry voice. Heidi turned her cold, but tired eyes on McGonagall and spoke in a clam, diplomatic manor.

"Please excuse my sister's brash behavior, for I guarantee it was not unwarranted. You see, today we received a letter from our mother, who had been concerned for our safety, and decided to disclose upon us the reason why the fugitive Sirius Black was arrested in the first place."

"She-she did…?" Minerva asked looking shocked.

"Yes, she did," Heidi confirmed. "In hopes of keeping us from leaving the school she did reveal to us this vital little piece of Black's past in order to make us understand why Black was after us, and therefore, keep us from going after him. This, of course, didn't go as planed, as you've already noticed…"

"Oh," Minerva stared at them like a goldfish trapped on dry land. Her mouth was suddenly dry, and she looked very repentant of her earlier actions. She sat down her quill and folded the parchment into tiny pieced and threw it in the wastebasket. Then she turned back to the twins.

"Then you surely must understand, why it is essential that you two not leave the castle grounds before Black is found?" she asked slowly, in a calm an composed manor, as if speaking to two little kids who needed everything spill out for them.

"Of course we do," Heidi assured. "That was just the spur of the moment. It won't happen again," Heidi assured. "Isn't that right, Diana?" Heidi labeled her sister with a hard glare, and after a moment of silence, Diana reluctantly agreed with her.

"…yes."

"So, you promise to not go looking for Black?" Minerva asked.

"Of course," Heidi answered in what should have been an earnest voice. "We promise we won't leave the castle grounds to go looking for Black."

Minerva still had as suspicious look on her face, as if she'd somehow been double-crossed, but she still had no idea how. "Very well," she nodded not looking entirely convinced. "You will still serve a week's worth of detention as punishment for your rash behavior!" she warned, and the twins nodded mutely. "And I'm warning you, you take one foot outside these ground and I will have you serving detention for the rest of your remaining time at Hogwarts!"

The two girls were dismissed after that. Both wearing identical grins as they made their way to the Great Hall on the ground floor. They'd get their hands on Black sometime the next week, and they didn't even have to leave the castle grounds to do that.

-OOOOOOOO-

"Hermione!" Ron Weasley's voice greeted enthusiastically from amidst the crowd of students which were piling up in the Great Hall. He looked red in the face, but his mouth was plastered in such a wide grind, that Hermione was left wondering how his face didn't managed to split in two.

"Ronal," she greeted back, though a little wary. Frankly, she didn't like that smile on his face one bit. Maybe Heidi was right and Ron did have another girlfriend he didn't want to tell her about. "How did it go?"

"It was amazing," Ron told her as he skidded to a halt a few feet from her. He took a few seconds to catch his breath, and then he excitedly started telling her of all the places he'd been and all the tons of magnificent thing he'd seen, that by the tine Neville and Ginny came around, Ron was still talking about the owl post and all the amazing tagged owls.

"Why are you getting so pumped up over owls? Are you developing an owl fetish or what?" Ginny laughed at him.

"No!" Ron said sounding extremely offended. "It was just interesting, is all. And I wasn't telling you, I was telling Hermione and Neville!"

"I've already seen the owl post service actually," Neville informed them. "The one in Diagon Alley, I mean. It's bigger."

"Well, did you buy what I asked for?" Ginny asked Ron looking expectant.

"You asked me to buy something for you? Oh!" Ron suddenly seemed to remember something and he winced slightly, his features taking on an apologetic smile, which Ginny graced with a glare.

"He didn't buy you anything," George said as he entered the Great Hall, looking flushed with his twin by his side.

"No, he was more preoccupied with looking for presents for his girlfriend," Fred said in a mischievous grin which had Ron blushing furiously.

Hermione's head picked up at this and she turned an incredulous look towards Ron, who fumbled under her disbelieved gazed. So Heidi was right, Ron did have a girlfriend and was only messing around with her. She felt tears pile up at the corner of her eyes.

"And a spanking good present he got her too," George said in an ironic tone.

"Yeah, not your average Casablanca this one," Fred nodded while giving Ron a disappointed look.

"Shut up!" Ron snapped at them looking furious. He turned towards Hermione, his face flushed, and timidly pulled a small parcel from the inside of his pocket and offered it to her. "I got this for you," he said in a small, barely audible voice.

Hermione stared dumbfounded at the parcel, while Ginny grinned at Ron, looking proud as she accepted a package from Fred. Neville was studying the parcel curiously, while Dean and Finnegan, who had entered alongside the Weasley twins, were silently cheering him on.

Not knowing what to do, Hermione stared silently at the parcel, as Ron continued to twitch on his feet, and the assembled crowd held their breath and kept crossing their fingers for the desired reaction. Fred and George had, seemingly, placed a bet on how Hermione would react and were more eager than any to see the conclusion of this show. Heidi and Diana tumbled down the steps and stared at the assembled crowd wondering what was going on. Fred and George quickly filled them in.

"Ron brought Hermione a present?" Diana asked sounding excited.

That soul statement seemed to drag Hermione out of her shock, and her cheeks suddenly turned bloody red as she finally realized that the girl whom Ron had spent so many hours searching for a present was her.

She saw Ron's determination faltering, and just as he was about to pull back the parcel and apologize, Hermione stretched out her hand and grabbed it. She did more than that, she leaped forward and enveloped him into a hug and the assembled crowd erupted into cheers.

Fred looked disappointed, having bet on his brother's failure, and was now forced to pay George off, while Ginny gave him a disapproving glance.

Ron was suddenly finding it hard to think straight, as he felt Hermione's warm body pressed so close to his, and fearing that this was all just one of his unrealistic fantasies, he hugged her back, feeling the need to make sure that she was actually there, and that this was actually happened. Hermione suddenly slipped from his embrace, looking rosy as she held the parcel Ron had given her close to her chest and gave him a sly smile.

"Thank you," she said in a small voice.

"Your welcome," Ron returned her smile.

A series of slow, deliberate claps rang through the crowd, and kids turned towards the sound to identify the owner, and their previous good mood vanished in an instant. Draco Malfoy had arrived on the scene, flanked by his two cronies Crabbe and Goyle.

"Bravo Weasley," Draco congratulated in a mocking manor. "You finally got the nerve to ask your girlfriend out, huh? And, what do you know? The designated woman accepted your offer. Now I'm surprised you didn't pull this stunt sooner, seeing how _she_-" he pointed at Hermione while giving her a hard, hateful glare "- was making it so damn easy for you!"

Hermione was caught of guard by the tone of the blonde's voice, which held so much malice, that you would have though that she was the person he hated the most in the world. Ron moved in front of Hermione, trying to shield her from Malfoy's gaze.

"Watch it Malfoy," he warned.

But Draco was feeling particularly vindictive today, and despite the small voice in the back of his head which told him that he was outnumbered by the enemy, he pressed on.

"And you," he pointed at Ron. "What do you get your_ girlfriend_ as a first gift?" he asked mockingly and tried to peek past Ron at the parchment in Hermione's hands. "Oh, wait! Don't tell me! Chocolates, right?" Ron's face flushed with embarrassment, and he gave Malfoy such a fowl look, that, if looks could kill, Draco would have been stoned to death.

"You actually got her chocolates?" Draco asked incredulously. "Man Weasley, I was only joking, but, _never_ in my _wildest dreams_ did I _ever_ think that you were that inept at picking a present for a girl." Malfoy howled with laughter, a hallow, unsettling sound, so distinct from Crabbe and Goyle's, that you would have though the blond was actually crying out in pain rather than laughing at his own bad joke.

"Take that back you ass!" Ginny snapped at him, and fished in her pocket for her wand, ready to hex the living daylight out of him, but Flint and the rest of the Slytherin Quidditch team entered the door, and George grabbed Ginny's wand and tried to restrain her before Flint and his cronies set their sight on her.

"STOP IT!" Hermione screeched at the blond with tear-filled eyes, and Draco's laughter died in an instant. "Just, stop it!"

"Yeah!" Diana came to her rescue. "You have no right to insult Ron! After all, if you think you can do better, why not try giving your _girlfriend-_" she trusted her finger in the direction of Pansy Parkinson, who'd just walked in with one of her friends "-a better gift!"

"Pansy's not my girlfriend," Draco said bluntly, causing Pansy to tear up and run pass him into the Great Hall, closely followed by her friend. "But I did get the girl I like a present. Care to see?" he asked in a somewhat mischievous tone, and the smile on his face turned into an outright smirk as he glared at Ron with malice.

"Sure," Diana said boldly. "And I'm warning you, if your gift is worse than Ron's, I'm punching you in the face!"

"As you wish," the blond gave her a mock boy, and with the slick movements of a trickster, he pulled a small package out of his pocket and after a muttered incantation, it grew about three times the size. "This is for you!" he smiled confidently and offered her the package.

"For me?" asked Diana hesitantly as she took the package. It weighed less than it looked, and she shocked the package slightly in order to see if she could distinguish any sound, but Draco held out his hands to stop her.

"I highly recommend that you not do that," Draco warned. "He won't like it."

"He?" Diana asked confused, her curiosity peaking, and she hastily tore the wrapper open in order to see the inside. "Oh, my god! This is for me?" she asked excited as she gazed entranced at the package in her hand. It was a small, pocket sized cage of sorts, but that was not what fascinated Diana, no, the thing that fascinated her, was the small, wiggling animal which was resting inside the cage. The miniature silhouette of a brown skinned, spike-headed dragon was crouched inside the bars of the cage, looking up at them, with menacing eyes.

"It most definitely is," Draco assured. "A Hungarian Horntail replica. I couldn't get an actual dragon, since breeding them is illegal, and I figured a toy would be easier to care for. Do you like it?"

"Are you kidding me?" Diana asked incredulously. "I _love _it!" She hugged the blond, who was quick to reciprocate, and as she pulled back, she made to kiss him on the cheek, but Draco shifted his head so that her lips landed on his instead. The kiss was brief, and Diana took no notice of it at all, while Draco looked like he could drop dead of happiness, and shot a superior smirk in Ron and Hermione's direction.

Heidi was shooting Diana and Draco a displeased look, while Ron and Hermione looked flushed with embarrassment. Fred and George guided them in the Dining Hall, because it seemed that the two had been rotten in place and would not dare to move of their own account. Ginny and Neville followed their lead.

"Diana!" Heidi called looking furious. "It's time for diner!"

"Right," Diana nodded, and made to leave, but Draco grabbed her hand and pulled her back, while saying:

"There are a few tricks that you can make it do. If you want, I can show them to you," he offered.

"That would be great!" Diana turned back to him excited. Heidi threw a peeved look her sister's way, and barged into the great hall without another glare.

"Well, let's go inside." Draco advised. "We don't want to miss the Halloween feast!"

"Definitely!" Diana nodded, and made her way in the great hall, with Draco at her side. The blond guided her towards a table on the Slytherin side, and for the remainder of the feast, the two could be seen giggling and laughing cheerfully as Draco pointed his wand at the dragon replica and made it perform all kinds of tricks.

The other members of the quartet were however peeved at Diana, and their good mood ruined. That fact that Ginny was next to him, had no cheering effect on Neville this night, because he was unable to make her feel better, seeing as she was still very much annoyed at Diana and Malfoy for making Hermione and Ron look so downcast. And when Diggory came around to snatch Heidi, her expression turned even sorer.

The night ended on a tragic note. As three of the quartet, accompanied by the Weasley children, made their way back to the Gryffindor common room (Diana was still fooling around with Draco). An eerie and unsettling sight greeted them, in the form of the portrait of the fat lad, which had been torn to shreds, and the owner was no were to be found. Dumbledore was soon to arrive on the scene, and Peeves, the troublesome poltergeist, was only too glad to inform him that Sirius Black was the one who'd caused the racket.


	8. Chapter 8

**Warning**: Readers under 16 are advised to skip Diana's squabble with Tom.

**Chapter 8: Fluffy the Prisoner of Azkaban**

For the following few days, all the school could talk about was Sirius Black. All of the students were interested in finding out how exactly Black managed to get inside the castle. The quartet however, had a vague idea of how this might have happened, and they didn't like the sound of it.

"No!" Diana protested fiercely. "Hagrid wouldn't have helped him get in here!"

"Oh, really?" asked Heidi looking skeptic. "Than what's this?" she thrust the Marauders Map at her sister, where the dots of Sirius Black and Rubeus Hagrid were clearly visible, while looking expectant.

Diana remained silent. She had noting to argue in Hagrid's favor. Truthfully, she felt incredibly betrayed, and wanted nothing more than to barge into Hagrid's hut and demand an explanation from the giant, but seeing as after the attacks all the teachers had taken to circling around her sister and her like stalkers, the task proved rather difficult for the time being. The detention with McGonagall wasn't helping matters either, seeing as their darling head of house would summon them right after their final class of the day, and keep them writing lines till dinner, and after that it was straight to bed. So the quartet had taken to stalking Black with the Marauders Map in turns for the rest of the week, and they were unpleasantly surprised to discover that Black hardly left Hagrid's side. Even when the giant would go into the Forbidden Forest with his Boarhound Fang, Black would still throttle right beside them.

"I don't understand!" Hermione said frustrated. "Why did Black choose that specific time to attack? And why is he following Hagrid like a lost puppy!"

Heidi's head shot up at hearing that, and she grabbed a hold of the map and began scanning it intently, while Diana was silently cursing Hagrid, for his stupidity and naivety. She was sure that the giant was somehow being tricked by Black, and no one would convince her otherwise.

"I don't think Hagrid let Black in," Heidi spoke suddenly, drawing the attention of the other kids.

"What do you mean?" asked Neville hopefully. Unlike the two know-it-alls, Neville, much like Diana, had refused to be swayed into believing that Hagrid would somehow help a mass murdered out intentionally, and had argued his case by reminding them of all the times Hagrid had helped out during their second year, and what a loyal and helping friend he was. Unfortunately for him, he, like Diana, couldn't come up with a reason as to why Hagrid's dot was always around Black's on the map.

Heidi didn't answer, still scanning the map intently. Hermione moved closer and peered suspicious at the map, wondering what Heidi had noticed.

"He's not here," Heidi muttered to herself after finally taking her eyes of the map.

"Who's not here?" Diana asked as she and Neville snuggled close to the two girls.

"I have to send a letter," Heidi said abruptly standing up.

"I sent Blanche off with a letter to mom this morning," Diana informed her, thinking that it was her mother's mandatory letters, which Petunia had demanded she'd receive once every few days after the Black incident had occurred.

"Ruby will do," Heidi assured and rand out the portrait hole.

Diana made to follow her, but Hermione grabbed her sleeve and pulled her down.

"Malfoy is waiting outside the door," she informed her, and Diana froze in place. "I'll go after Heidi." Hermione sat up and rushed out of the common room door, while Neville was left wondering what was going on.

"You're avoiding Malfoy?" He asked surprised. After the scene that the blond had caused on Halloween, he was sure that the annoying Malfoy prat and his red-haired friend were an item.

"Of course," Diana said moodily. "The ass kissed me without my permission! If he does have the misfortune of seeing me anytime soon, I'll make sure he never gets out of the hospital wing!"

"Oh," Neville said in lack of a better word. The two sat there in silence for a few minutes, each caught in their own thought.

Ginny was the only thing that filled Neville's mind whenever he heard the word kiss, or date. He had suddenly become self conscious about his position in the group. He was the only guy on the team, and his team mates were beating him in terms of romantic relationships. Heidi and Diggory were practically dating; Diana was in an on-and-off sort of relationship with Draco, and if she dumped him, she had plenty of candidates to chose from; and Hermione, it wouldn't take her and Ron much time before they started dating. As for his relationship with Ginny… well, he could now talk to the girl twice a day without feeling the need to sink in the ground, though it didn't look like he was going to branch out form the friend category anytime soon. It got him a little down, but he refused to give up.

"Hey!" Ron and Ginny greeted as they came over. "Mind if we sit with you?"

"Not at all," Neville said beaming up at them.

"Where's Hermione?" Ron asked looking around the common room curiously.

"She left for a stroll with Heidi," Diana answered.

"Did you guys hear about the swap of the Quidditch matches?" Ginny asked looking down.

"I'm leaving," Diana informed them as she quickly rose to her feet. "No offence, but Quidditch is not really my thing," the red-haired said and barged up the stairs of the girl's dormitory.

"Don't worry about her," Neville told Ginny. "She always does that when the conversation turns to Quidditch," he lied. Truth be told, Diana sometimes proved to be much more of a Quidditch fan than his uncle Algie, but that was only when her sister was involved. She didn't really care about anything else related to Quidditch, so, technically, he hadn't completely lied to them. "So, what happened?"

"Wood told us that the match against Slytherin had been rescheduled since _apparently_, Draco Malfoy's way to lazy to put his ass on a broom and catch the Snitch. Naturally his blaming Hagrid and that supposed still broken arm of his."

"Lazy git," Ron cursed.

"So, who are you playing?" Neville asked curiously.

"Hufflepuff," Ginny said at once, her tone changing suddenly to concern. "I'm not very confident that I'll win," she admitted.

"Why?" Neville asked confused. "The Gryffindors have never hand problems with the Hufflepuff team before! Diggory might be a good enough Seeker, but Malfoy and his Slytherin crew would have posed more of a problem than Hufflepuff. I think you really got lucky for not playing them on your first match."

Ginny turned a disbelieved look on Neville, and the blond boy was suddenly left wondering what he did wrong.

"So you think that I don't have what it takes to beat Malfoy?" Ginny asked looking crossed.

"Thant's not what I meant to say!" Neville hurried in assuring, looking apologetic, but Ginny had had enough.

"You're not the only one you know!" the red-haired snapped. "Who think we don't have a chance at winning the house cup just because our prized Seeker has suddenly left the team! And no offence to Heidi, I know she's brilliant, but Wood's training everyone else on the team like mad, while I'm only supposed to learn a few simple maneuvers and wait to see if I get lucky enough to catch the Snitch! He's not even giving me a chance! And the rest of the team are already demoralized as hell thinking we have zero chances of winning! I'm tired of everyone looking down on me!"

"Look, I'm sorry Ginny," Neville said looking truly remorseful. "I wasn't trying to insult you, I was only trying to encourage you, but everything came out wrong! I'm really sorry!"

"You shouldn't listen to them," Ron advised, looking incredibly sorry for his sister. Truth was, he was also one of the majorities of Gryffindor who'd given up hope on winning the Quidditch cup after Heidi had been withdrawn from the team. His sister was a great flyer, but Heidi was better. The way she'd trashed Slytherin last year still remained firmly engraved in the Gryffindor's mind. There was no denying it, Heidi was Gryffindor's star player, and without her on the team, their chances of winning looked next to none, especially considering the fact that this year, everyone was competing for a spot on one of the three best Quidditch teams of Britain. He felt sorry for his sister, he really did, but he knew that Wood wouldn't have the patience to coach her into becoming a better player, not with such high stakes at hand, and the worse part was that he couldn't blame him, because he would have done the exact same thing if he were in Wood's position.

"I'm sorry for taking my frustration out on you," Ginny said to Neville.

"It's no big deal," the chubby boy assured.

"It just really bugs me that no one would believe in me," Ginny said looking downcast.

"But I believe in you," Neville guaranteed.

"You don't mean that," Ginny said sounding bitter, while giving Neville a challenging look. Did he really think her that stupid to fall for such an obvious lie?

Neville turned his determined gaze on her and leaned in slightly closed. "I believe in you!" he said with such conviction, that it caught Ginny off guard, and caused Ron to flush in embarrassment, because he wasn't as sure of his sister's abilities as Neville.

"I'm going to see what Dean and Seamus are doing," Ron said, and quickly made his getaway, thinking that his sister might round on him next.

Ginny and Neville paid him no heed. They were both still stuck gazing determinately at the other, waiting to see who would back down first.

Neville was definitely up for the challenge. This was the girl he liked, and he'd be damned if he gave up on her, even if the odds were against her.

"Heidi was only a first year when she made the team," Neville began. "She won her first match in spite the fact that she'd never had any previous training on a broom! And for how long did you tell me that you've been waiting for a chance to prove your skills at Quidditch? For how long have you been sneaking in your brother's broom closet and practicing while they weren't looking? Three years now, right? Well, that gives you about one more year's worth of experience ahead of Heidi if she was in your position! Now tell me, why should I doubt the abilities of someone so dedicated to the game and its team as you?"

Ginny's gaze softened, and she finally lowered her eyes from his.

"I'm sorry for being so had on you," Ginny said quietly after a few moment of silence. "It's just that, I'm not sure if I myself believe that I can win," she admitted, lifting a desperate gaze up at Neville. "So, I guess I though that it was impossible for someone else to believe in me since I myself couldn't muster up the courage to."

"That's a rather depressing way to look at it!" Neville said scolding her slightly. "And you're definitely not doing anyone any good by thinking like that!" Ginny's expression turned sad again, and Neville, desperate to keep the girl from crying, began spluttering random nonsense that passed through his mind. "You know, Heidi told me that Wood took a Bludger to his head in his first match!"

"Really?" Ginny lifted her head looking shocked.

"Yeah," Neville nodded, glad to see he'd managed to distract Ginny from her own problems. "Angelina took one too, last year."

"Yeah, I remember that," Ginny said, a look of horror suddenly crossing her face. "Merlin's pants, I'm the SEEKER! To hell with the Snitch, I'll be the Beater's main target!"

Neville grimaced, cursing himself for not predicting the direction the conversation would take, and he quickly tried to change it, but Ginny was going ballistic over the matter, so Neville was stuck trying to assure her for the next half and hour that she wouldn't be in as much danger seeing as this was Hufflepuff, and she was a newcomer to the game and the Beaters would definitely have their eyes on someone more experienced. Which only caused him more trouble since Ginny concluded that he really did not trust her chances at winning the match, which again led to a very frustrating conversation where he again had to assure her that he did. She didn't look as convinced as the first time mind you, but they managed to end the night on friendly terms.

-OOOOOOOO-

Diana felt sick to her stomach as she sat on top of her bed with the curtains drawn and gazed at the small, black notebook before her. She was afraid to open it. She was afraid to look Tom in the eyes and see the betrayal which would surely be reflected in them. She wanted to hex herself, and thought that she'd damn well deserved it for betraying Tom, but she wanted to curse Draco even more.

This was all the blonde's fault! He was the one who'd kissed her without her permission, right? Which meant that this was not her fault, right? _Yes_, Diana concluded. _It _is_ his fault!_ _Why should I beat myself up for him?_ But she hadn't hexed him. No, instead she'd spent the whole night fooling around with the blond thanks to that stupid dragon replica which he'd got her, enraging her friends and sister, and betraying Tom's trust. That couldn't exactly be deemed as Draco's fault or at least not entirely.

Diana shuck her head not knowing what to think. She threw a regretful look at the diary and then at the book which she'd managed to snatch from the restricted section as a piece offering to Tom and wondered whether that would be enough to forgive her. She didn't think so, and considering the fact that she hadn't written to him in 6 whole days, she was sure he'd be mad at her for ignoring him for such a long time as well.

She opened the diary to a random page and dipped her quill in the ink-bottle, pulled it out and held it above the page, ready to write. But no words came to mind. Maybe she could just give him the book and say nothing, after all, it wasn't like she was dating Draco, the first chance she'd get she'd clear that misconception from his mind. So, maybe she could just lie to Tom.

No, she had a feeling that that wouldn't work so well. How about not mentioning the incident at all?

A small drop of ink fell down from the tip of her quill, which was quickly absorbed in the dairy's pages, and a moment later a reply from the owner appeared on the page.

_Diana?_ It wrote. _Is that you?_

Diana stared at the ink for a few long seconds, up until it erased itself from existence and pondered on whether she should reply or not.

_Yes._ She wrote back in the end.

_It's been a whiled_, the diary greeted.

_Sure has_, she replied.

_You don't seem as cheery tonight, did something happen?_

Diana was unsure how to answer this question, or even if she wanted to. True, there have been quite a few unusual events in her life, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to share them with Tom. She feared that the boy would ask to see her, and she didn't know if she was up for it.

_I'm fine_. She wrote lying and hoping that Tom would believe her. _I've been busy with school._

A small, undistinguished squeaking sound came from the foot of her bed, as Skabbers, Ron's troublesome rat, made his way on her bed and trotted over to her. Diana paid him no mind as a reply from Tom appeared on the previously blank piece of paper.

_You're lying!_

Not a moment after the writing appeared, Diana felt a sudden force drag her forward, and she found herself falling into the pages of the rusty diary, alongside Skabbers and the book she'd taken from the library. The blurry figures took the shape of the familiar Slytherin common room, and she found herself unceremoniously dumped on one of the couches near the fire. Sitting across from her was a very displease looking Tom Riddle.

Skabbers landed with a soft thump next to the couch, and quickly slipped into the shadows, while looking confused at the boy in front of him.

Tom crossed his arms and fixed Diana with a hard glare.

"Care to explain why you felt the need to lie to me?" he asked sounding perfectly polite, but the hard glee did not leave his eyes.

Diana lowered her eyes to the ground and remained silent, making Tom sigh in impatience. He leaned forward and took her face in his hands. He lifted her head up and locked his gaze with hers.

"What are you hiding from me Diana?" Tom asked forcibly, and suddenly Diana remembered her first kiss. The one that Draco had boldly stolen from her, and which she'd paid no mind at the moment, but scolded herself harshly afterwards.

Tom abruptly let his hands drop from her face as he fell back down into his chair seemingly shocked. Diana lowered her head to the ground again and murmured softly: "Because I didn't want to worry you," as a reply.

Distractedly Tom asked her "What for," as his mind started rapidly filling with a few gruesome little spells he'd like to experiment with on the Malfoy brat. He couldn't believe the nerve of the pureblood! He was the only one who was allowed to manipulate the red-haired, and he'd make sure that the blond plaid for what he'd done.

Diana squirmed under the murderous gaze and not knowing what to do, she spilled everything out in a fast and desperate voice. "Because Sirius Black tried to break into the tower, and because I tried to go after him when I found out that he's in the castle and hiding at Hagrid's hut, but I didn't managed to go there because Hermione stopped me and McGonagall gave me a week's worth of detention in order to keep me inside the castle, but I still want to go after him, and I knew you wouldn't approve, so I thought that if I didn't tell you, you wouldn't get mad at me, because I'm not going alone, and-"

"And you were right into thinking that I'd get mad at you!" Tom snapped stopping her rambling. And here he was thinking that all she'd managed to do to make him want to throttle her was get snogged by a Slytherin. "You intended to go after a mass murderer by yourself?" Tom asked incredulously. "I thought you had more common sense than that!"

"I won't go by myself! Heidi, Hermione and Neville are coming with me!" Diana protested.

"Yes, I feel _so_ reassured knowing that three more _third years_ will be accompanying you on this insane quest of yours," Riddle said sarcastically while shaking his head in barely contained rage. He couldn't believe the sheer stupidity of these kids! But what in Salazar's name was he expecting, they were Gryffindors after all.

"But we're all good duelers!" Diana protested.

"You think so?" Riddle asked in mock amusement. He knew for a fact that Heidi was a good dueler from his duel with her last year, but that was compared to a forth grader. From what he remembered the Longbottom spawn was clumsy and the Mudblood was horrible at duels, or that's what he concluded from Diana's rambling about her friends.

Riddle leaned suddenly forward, a predatory smile on his face. "Show me!" he ordered and grabbed Diana by the hand, pulling her to her feet. The place suddenly became a bluer of images, as the Slytherin common room disappeared and in its place the Great Hall materialized, looking more imposing than ever with its night sky ceiling where a few million candles fluttered overhead. The four great tables were banished from the place, and instead, a gigantic empty place remained. Skabbers squealed and rushed to hide in the shadow of a corner, while Tom let go of Diana's hand and distanced himself from her.

"Tom, what are you planning?" Diana asked hesitantly.

Tom gave her a teeth-full grin and calmly said: "Why, we're going to duel of course. Would you like to do this the proper way, or should we leave the formalities seeing as they're just a waste of time?"

"You're joking," Diana said hopefully.

Tom just smiled and said: "I guess we'll leave the formalities then. Stupefy!"

The red jet of light flew out of his wand and headed towards Diana with a frightening speed. The red-haired moved out of the way and turned to give Tom an incredulous look.

"Not yet," Tom warned and he twisted his wand in a spiral motion, making the stunner he'd just sent stop in its tracks and shoot after Diana once more.

Caught off guard by the unexpected piece of magic, Diana nearly got hit by the stunning spell, but she jumped out of the way at the last possible minute. She was ready the next time it came and erected a shield to block it, and then she tried reasoning with Tom.

"Tom, stop this!" she pleaded, but the teenaged Slytherin paid no heed to her as he proceeded to bombard her with a fast succession of spells, which had Diana running all over the place, and blocking left and right, barely managing to escape a few spells.

"Why are you so angry Tom?" Diana cried while dodging another spell which came close to hitting her square on the head.

_That is a rather good question_, Tom thought as he struggled to find the answer, but the more he tried, the angrier he got, and the angrier he got, the more spells he started firing, each one increasingly harder to block and with much more force behind it then the last.

Why was he angry? Where to being… maybe it had something to do with her insufferable nerve for stunning him while he wasn't looking, or maybe it had something to do with the girls sheer stupidity, and unwillingness to listen to reason, but he liked to blame that on her parents for being foolish Gryffindor.

_Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that she chose the Malfoy brat over you?_ An annoying voice whispered in the back of his head.

Tom didn't know what came over him, but in that moment he snapped. The spell that came out of his wand rushed towards Diana with an unbelievable speed and precision, it struck her in the chest and propelled her a few feet backwards, where she landed unconscious, her wand rolling a few feet away from her.

He stopped dead in his tracks looking shocked at Diana's motionless body, as the last bits of spark and spells crashed against the wall and disappeared from sight. His mind suddenly grew blank, and his legs move of their own account towards the fallen form of the red-haired.

When Diana's fallen figure rested right before his eyes, his brain snapped back into function. The rage came back in full force, and he ponder for a second killing the girl where she stood. After all, if he did that, than he could use her life force and escape this eternal prison which had encaged him for fifty year. Or better yet, he could just leave her there lying, than the diary's magic would suck out all her life force for him ensuing the same result.

He didn't know why, but he didn't like the idea. He couldn't bring himself to kill her, and he didn't feel like leaving her laying on the floor either.

When he couldn't justify the reason for not wanting to kill her, he did what he always did when he encountered a problem of this sort: he blamed it on Dumbledore. Yes, everything looked so much easier when he blamed it on Dumbledore. Of course it was Dumbledore's fault! If he wasn't headmaster, than maybe he'd have a chance at pulling this off, but seeing as this year Black had escaped from Azkaban and was trying to break into Hogwarts the castle was bound to have extra enhancements which would detect him the moment he tried to leave. Let's not forget those annoying Dementors which were lurking outside the gates. No, it wasn't a good plan to kill one of the Girls-Who-Lived in such a situation. He'd be easily caught, but the thought was still tempting him greatly.

He crouched down on his knees and picked Diana's unconscious figure off the floor, and then he shifted the appearance of the room, so that it looked like the Slytherin common room once more. He gently laid Diana on the couch, still feeling slightly resentful towards her, and pulled out his wand.

"Enervate," he cast, making Diana jump slightly and look around disoriented. Her gaze landed on Tom's face, which was only a few inches away from hers, and, still looking dazed, Diana asked weekly:

"Tom, are you still mad?"

"Yes," Tom replied in a sharp tone. He was, still very much angry with her.

"What should I do to stop you from being angry?" Diana asked meekly, looking extremely guilty.

Tom didn't even have to consider the question. There was one thing that he wanted from the red-haired at the moment, and he didn't even think twice before taking it, feeling himself in the right do to her previous misbehavior.

His head shot forward, and his lips crashed onto her enveloping them in a heated kiss. Diana was taken aback by the sudden gesture, but she soon snapped out of it and quickly wrapped her hands around his neck, pulling the boy closer. Riddle's arms instantly wrapped around her waist and pressed her close to his body. He maneuvered her on the couch so that she was laying underneath him. He covered her body with his and proceeded to nuzzle and lick her bottom lip, which completely confused Diana since all this was new to her, but she struggled to keep up by mimicking his actions. When her lips parted ever so slightly, Tom didn't fail to take advantage of that and slip his tongue inside her mouth and explore the warm cavity.

Diana felt slightly uncomfortable at first, but then Tom's tongue tentatively brushed over hers, making her moan slightly at the new, yet endearing sensation. She practically melted in his arms as Tom's tongue slowly started caressing hers. His hands slipped from behind her back and slowly began making their way down her side, making Diana giggle slightly, as goose bumps started forming all over her skin, propelling her small, still developing chest into his. Her hands undid themselves from around Tom's neck, and tangled up in his hair as Riddle's own hands landed on her thighs. He took a firm grip of her hips and slowly guided them around his waist, and then settled himself in the middle.

And incredible wave of pleasure washed over Diana as Tom's erecting landed on her womanhood. It was a mind blowing feeling of warmth and need which developed in her lower abdomen and sprang up, making its way throughout her entire body. She moaned in pleasure, which only managed to prompt Tom onwards and he slowly began grinding himself against her. Diana moaned loudly as an even grater wave of pleasure shot through her body, and her hands disentangled themselves from Tom's hair and started exploring his broad chest.

Tom grunted, un-gentleman-like, and ran his left hand over her side, while his right moved to cup her ass and give it a slight squeeze. Diana's head arched back, as she gasped for air and panted rapidly, trying in vain to regain her breathing, but Tom's lips moved to her neck, where he placed a soft peach, and then covered the sensitive skin with his mouth, while sucking gently.

The red-haired was a wreck of emotions and new sensations, which barely registered amidst all the pleasure that traveled through her body like an electric jolt that she just decided to give in and close her mind to everything. Whatever Tom was doing felt so damn good, that she found herself incapable of doing anything but submitting to his will.

Tom, for his part, was feeling more alive than he'd felt in the last fifty year. All this time spent hibernating and scheming on how to get out of this damn prison, that he'd forgotten how good it felt to have a woman beside him. He was so overcome by the maddening pleasure that ran through his body that he felt himself loosing the last bit of control he had over himself.

As soon as that though entered his mind, he stopped. His body suddenly grew ice cold as he struggled to regain control over himself. He disentangled himself from Diana and promptly jumped on his feet, while forcing himself to breath slow.

Diana gradually opened her eyes, while still panting heavily and turned to give him a confused look. "Tom?"

At the sound of his name Tom turned, and nearly doubled over when he saw Diana laying on the couch covered in sweat, her chest raising irregularly, her flushed lips and legs slightly parted.

Tom tore his eyes away from her and struggled to compose himself, but that image of her laying on the couch was still plastered in his head.

"I think you should go," Tom said in-between irregular mouths of air. After those words left him, Diana felt the unusual sensation of being lifted from the ground, and spilled out of the diary, and soon, she found herself on top of her bed in the Gryffindor common room looking extremely frustrated.

-OOOOOOOO-

Tom heaved in a long, suffering breath, trying to regain his composure while mentally belittling himself for his lack of self-restrain. He crashed on the couch and picked up the book that Diana had dropped when she'd arrived, a small smirk marring his features as he noted the title. _The Basis of Spell Creation_ by Rick Staatsburg, he had already read the book once, but the theory was a little foggy in his mind, and spell creation would prove to be an interesting pastime at the moment, and it would definitely get his mind of previous passings.

He shock his head furiously as unorthodox images of Diana began flashing through his mind, and took a deep steady breath in an attempt to calm himself, and opened the book fully intending on immerging himself into the pages for the rest of the night, when a slight glimpse of magic caught his senses.

It was a small, undistinguished amount, which shuffled about the room in this small, enclosed space that should have contained only _his _essence, only _his_ magical signature. Yet, for some reason, it didn't. But whose could it be? It wasn't Diana's, he was certain of that. Diana's magical was always light and warm, almost like the soft ray of the summer sun, which gently bather ones skin in its warmth. Ginevra's took on a slight turbulent shape, like a blazing, bright burning oven, which was hell-bent on proving her worth to the world. This…feeble energy, however, had the feel of a broken, fearful individual, who'd like noting more than to slip unnoticed into the shadows and remain there, rather than shine and let themselves admired like the two girls.

It was vexing, to say the least, the fact that an unknown person had managed to sneak this deep into his very soul without him noticing in the slightest. When had it happened? It didn't matter. What matter at the moment was apprehending the intruder and punishing him for his insolence.

Tom's gaze turned sour, as he rested his cold eyes on the spot behind the small table, from which the small pulse of energy came, and slowly, the room began to shrink. A small squeal was heard from behind the table, and a second later, a tiny fur covered creature snapped into view, as it desperately tried to escape the upcoming wall.

"Petrificus Totalus!" the snarled spell stopped the tiny creature's advance, and in an instant, the room grew back to its former size.

Tom sat there, staring at the creature bewildered. It had to be an Animagus. That much was clear, since rats were not magical creatures, and therefore, they shouldn't have possessed any magical properties. Tom flicked his wand, and the now immobile rat grew into a scruffy individual, slightly round, with a pointed face and rat like features. Roped grew out of thin air and enveloped the round man, binding him in place. Then the petrifying spell was lifted.

The rat-like person squealed pitifully as he scuffled with the robes, while his eyes searched wildly around for any escape rout.

Tom rose from his seat and was upon the rat-like man in a flash. "Who are you?" He demanded harshly as he trailed his wand on him and hissed "Legilimens!"

The scabby man shrieked in agony as he felt his mind being assaulted by a forceful presence. It hammered away the one bit of resistance which the meager man had been capable of erecting, and pushed deeper into his mind, tearing through his memories of life as a rat unfazed, up until he found what he was looking for.

_On that day, that cursed Halloween when everything had gone so horribly wrong._

_He was supposed to get riches beyond his wildest dreams, power and influence, and the Dark Lord's guaranteed protection. Instead, he landed himself in a small Muggle street, with the person whom he'd once considered a friend hot on his trail, screaming bloody murder. With the death of the master he'd so dutifully served cam his own downfall. _

_They'd question him, they'd force the truth right out of him, and then they'd order the Dementor's Kiss without a second thought, that old man would see to that. And his own friends were now out for his blood._

"_Peter!" a loud voice boomed from across the street, drawing the attention of the passing Muggles. _

_Peter turned, slowly, his body shaking with fear from the mere hatred which resounded in than once mirth-full, mischievous voice. _

_There was no glee in the other's face. No cheeky smile, which naturally seemed to spring up when something unlawful, yet always exhilarating came to mind. No bark like laughter, which always filled the room whenever James would crack one of his silly joked. No, all of that was gone from his old friend. His companion. His partner in crime. It had all washed away, alongside James Potter's existence. And all that remained behind, was a mad want. A desire if you may. A need which screamed of blood and vengeance. Vengeance on the coward who'd dared to sell a friend for his own personal reasons. A traitor. _

_That was how Pettigrew was reflected in his old friends eyes. He could see the accusation flowing off of them. There was no need for words. And Pettigrew knew. His old friends_ _who'd protected him for so long, who'd stuck with him through thick and thin, would stop at nothing to see him pay for his horrible betrayal. _

_His old friend…no, the enemy drew near. His stand aggressive, his wand at the ready, a wild gleam in his eyes that promises pain beyond belief and a curse ready to burst into existence at the slip of the tongue._

_Peter was scared. More so, he was petrified. The enemy would show no mercy, of that he was sure. He wanted to escape, had to. He wanted to flee, but where? He wanted to live! But how? He had to live! He would live!_

…

_And so, he would._

The presence slowly retreated from his mind, and Peter struggled to regain his composure as he felt a massive pain spring to life and engulf his whole forehead. He groaned, clumsily trying to scratch at his head, but the ropes were still binding him in place.

Tom gazed at him with mirth, as a sinister smile spread on his face, a plan slowly beginning to take shape in his mind.

-OOOOOOOO-

The day before the Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff match, it was announced Draco Malfoy had been sent to the hospital wing again. Though it wasn't his supposed broken arm, like Flint insistently told everyone, no, it was sheer misfortune that landed him there in the first place. Because, you see, after the events on Halloween, Draco had been confident enough in thinking that Diana had forgiven his past offences and the two of them would get back together.

He was wrong. As it turn out, Diana happened to hate the blond at the moment, thinking him the reason why her beloved Tom had refused to answer her calls, and therefore, she's stopped avoiding the blond, hoping to blow some steam up. And blow she did. Which was the reason why she was a little late for Lupin's class.

"I'm sorry I'm late Professor!" Diana rushed into the class, and was about to take her place beside Neville, when she noticed that Lupin wasn't the one seated at the teacher's desk. It was Snape.

Snape ignored her, like he always did, but Diana couldn't ignore him. "Where's Professor Lupin?" she asked.

"Snape told us he was sick," Heidi whispered.

"Sick?" Diana asked concerned while sitting beside Neville. "What's wrong with him?"

"Snape wouldn't say," Neville told her. Diana glared at the Professor, who'd just risen from his seat at the desk.

"Excuse me," Diana raised her hand and asked expectantly. "What's wrong with Professor Lupin?"

"Nothing life-threatening," Snape said, looking as though he wished it were. "As I was saying before Miss Potter interrupted, Professor Lupin has not left any record of the topics you have covered so far —"

"Please, sir, we've done Boggarts, Red Caps, Kappas, and Grindylows," said Hermione quickly, "and we're just about to start —"

"Be quiet," said Snape coldly. "I did not ask for information. I was merely commenting on Professor Lupin's lack of organization."

There were a few murmurs who praised Lupin as being the best Defense teacher they'd had, which Snape instantly dismissed with a phlegmatic "You are too easily satisfied."

"Today we shall be discussing werewolves," Snape said as he casually flipped through the _Defense Against the Dark Arts third grade_ book.

"But, sir," said Hermione, looking troubled, "we're not supposed to do werewolves yet, we're due to start Hinkypunks —"

"Miss Granger," said Snape in a voice of deadly calm, "I was under the impression that I am teaching this lesson, not you. And I am telling you all to turn to page 394." He glanced around. "_All of you! Now!_"

"Don't take what the git said to hear!" Heidi whispered while giving Snape a conflicted look. Why was the old bat lecturing them on werewolves of all things?

"Which of you can tell me how we distinguish between the werewolf and the true wolf?" Snape asked.

Everyone stared at Snape in mute silence, while Hermione and Heidi's hands shot up in the air.

"Anyone?" Snape said, ignoring both Hermione and Heidi. A twisted sort of smile made its way across Snape's face, one that unsettled most students in the class. "Are you telling me that Professor Lupin hasn't even taught you the basic distinction between —"

"We haven't gotten around to studying werewolves yet!" Diana snapped. "How are we supposed to recognize them if we haven't learned about them?"

Snape looked incredibly displeased with the sudden interruption, and for the first time this year, he turned his black orbs on Diana and said in a strained voice: "That, Miss Potter, is precisely my problem with Professor Lupin! A class of _third years_ should have been able to recognize the distinction between a werewolf and a normal wolf by now! And I blame it on Professor Lupin for failing to teach you these things!"

"I don't see how Professor Lupin can be blamed for the incompetence of our early Professors!" Diana continued in her protest. "Quirrell and Lockhart hardly ever taught us something! A few weeks back we wouldn't have known the differences between Red Capes and a normal cape if you would had let one loose on us! I think Professor Lupin has done an admirable job at teaching us this much, seeing how behind we already were!"

The rest of the class gave a murmur of agreement, while Snape looked even more displeased. For the rest of the lesson, Snape continued to ignore Diana and went on in his lecture about werewolves, albeit, he stopped criticizing Lupin's work. When the bell rang, everyone was extremely glad to leave the class, but Snape held them back while instructing:

"You will each write an essay, to be handed in to me, on the ways you recognize and kill werewolves. I want two rolls of parchment on the subject, and I want them by Monday morning."

Everyone groaned mentally, not daring to voice their displeasure in front of Snape, and left in more of a hurry then when they would if they'd had Potions with the old bat.

"That was incredibly… _rude_!" Diana raged as she stormed out of the classroom.

"Snape's definitely got it in for Lupin," Neville mussed. "Even more so than any of our other Defense teachers."

"Yes, they must share some embarrassing history," Heidi mussed in a distant voice. "Still, why teach us about werewolves?"

"It doesn't make much sense does it?" asked Hermione. "Though, I for one can't see the harm in studying ahead. Or, maybe Professor Lupin did tell him what to teach us and he decided to skip ahead to spite him?" Hermione suggested.

"That definitely sounds like Snape," Neville nodded looking convinced.

"Greasy git," Diana swore, and was rewarded with a warning glare from her sister.

"Now, who's being rude?" Heidi chided.

-OOOOOOOO-

The first Quidditch match of the season was due to start in one hour. Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff, the long awaited confrontation, and for the first time in history, the Lion house was anything but cheerful.

There was no noisy chattering, no mirth-filled laughter, or excited murmurs, even Fred and George weren't up to their trademark beats before the matches. Their expressions that morning were so somber and stoic, that you might have thought someone had died and they were too proud to shed any tears.

The Hufflepuffs themselves looked more scared then they had ever been in their life. All wide eyed and hopeful yet fearful looking at the three extra chairs added to the high table.

The three new members all looked young and stoic, proudly wearing their Quidditch garments with an air of self importance and a watchful eye scanning the assembled students.

One, a bulky looking lad with dirty-blond hair cut so short you could almost call him bold, went by the name of Damien O'Hare. He was the Captain of the Montrose Magpies British team, the most successful team in the history of Britain. They had managed an impressive feat of winning the British and Irish League thirty-two times, and of course, who could forget about the two spectacular wins at the European Championships in 1942 and 1947 delivered by the famous Seeker Eunice Murray (the last one right before he retired). Not even Uncle Algie could deny they were spectacular, and any player on the team wore the black and white garments with pride.

The second was a supple, graceful young girl, in her late teens, with brown eyes, and shoulder length black hair. Her name was Holly Griffiths, the Captain of the Holyhead Harpies, and great granddaughter of the renowned Seeker: Glynnis Griffiths, who'd played for the same team when she'd gone pro. The Harpies themselves had an admirable résumé, after all, one of the most finest matches in history was considered to be their defeat of the Heidelberg Harriers, which took a trying seven days, but most say it was worth it (except for some very dedicated Heidelberg fans who, up until today insist that the Harpies coned them somehow).

The third one Neville was more familiar with since the day of the thirty-first of July, when he'd gone with the twins and Hermione to see the National Quidditch match at the Wembley stadium. The Falmouth Falcons' Captain: Connor Broadmoor, team Keeper. The team was renowned for its brutality, and of course, Randolph Keitch and Basil Horton, who were two of the original players of the team, who resigned from Quidditch only to built the renowned Comet Trading Company. Most of the Quidditch players in the great hall were familiar with their broom models, since for most of them, a Comet 5 had been number one on their Christmas for many years, up until a few years back; it was even among the few companies who crafted brooms especially for the International Championship matches, but since the Nimbus' rise in the last years, they were stomped down to Nationals only.

The three Quidditch stars ate silently at the front table, while the children could do nothing but admire them, their appetite long forgotten.

Wood thought this a good thing, assuring his players that if they had nothing in their stomachs, they'd be less likely to throw up. His words didn't have the encouraging effect that he'd hoped for. Ginny was looking sick to her stomach and almost shock uncontrollably in her seat.

"You ok?" Neville asked her, and then belittled himself for posing such a stupid question.

Ginny turned to look desperately up at him. "If this were a normal Quidditch match…"

"You'd definitely be feeling less pressure on your shoulders," Neville said sympathetically. "But this might be a good thing!" he encouraged. "You might make one of the teams!"

"Yeah, think of all the Galleons you'd earn if you became a Quidditch star!" Ron said enthusiastically, causing Ginny to shrink beside him.

"…Right," she nodded and dropped her gaze to the ground.

Neville squirmed uncomfortably beside her. This was one painful breakfast. In spite of the fact that he was hungry he couldn't eat. And Diana, Hermione and Heidi had decided to skip breakfast with the excuse that they were going to see Hagrid. He felt horribly betrayed, left to suffer there all alone.

But then again, they had invited him to come with them, but he had refused, thinking that Ginny might need the moral support. And it seemed she did, for when breakfast ended, and Wood followed by the rest of the Gryffindor team rose from their seats, Ginny wordlessly grabbed Neville's hand and crushed it into her trembling one, and Neville struck by an incredible wave of helplessness, could do nothing more than squeeze her hand reassuringly and give her a heart-full smile.

Ginny didn't let go of his hand. Not even when they reached the Quidditch Locker-Room and Neville had a hunch she would have dragged him inside the room with her if it weren't for the fact that they saw Heidi waiting outside.

"Hey!" Heidi greeted.

"Hey," Ginny responded timidly.

There was an awkward pause. Neville felt slightly uncomfortable standing there silent, while the two girls were looking at anything but each other, but his hand was still being crushed by Ginny's so he couldn't leave even if he wanted.

"Did you come to see the match?" Neville asked hoping to lift some of the stiffness in the air.

"I… well…," Heidi babbled incomprehensibly. "No, actually, I'm here for something else," she finally managed to say.

Neville waited patiently for her to elaborate. But Heidi hesitated for a few moments.

She took a deep breath and finally lifted her gaze to look at Ginny. "I'm here to wish you good luck."

Ginny was startled by the sudden announcement and lifted her eyes to look at her. "Thank you," she said earnestly.

Heidi nodded in acknowledgement. "And also," she proceeded to pull out something from her pocket, and after enlargening it with a simple wave of her wand, it turned out to be her Nimbus 2000. "McGonagall bought this for the team's Seeker," she said while stroking the broom fondly. "It's a superb broom, and it's served me well these past few years…" her gaze was distant, here thoughts miles away, recalling her first ever Quidditch match, and all the other good times she'd shared with the cleaning utensil. She closed her eyes sadly and handed the broom over to Ginny. "Right now, I think it will do you more good than me," she said nodding her head fervently, while blinking rapidly.

Ginny hesitated, looking dumbfounded at the broom. "Are you sure…?" she asked uncertain.

"No…" Heidi shuck her head, looking anything but pleased. "But I want the team to win!" she said sounding resolute. "And up until I'm fit to play again, you happen to be the new Seeker, which means that if you don't catch the Snitch we'll loose. And I know for a fact that Wood hasn't paid much attention to your training, so I'm hoping this will somehow make up for it."

Ginny looked a little down, deducing that Heidi was certain she didn't have what it took to be a Seeker, and she was probably right, but she didn't have to be so blunt about it. Ginny was just about to refuse Heidi's offer when the brunet added.

"And I also heard you were quite good."

It was reluctant, she could tell that much, but for someone as talented as Heidi to admit that she was good meant much more to Ginny in that moment than the brunet could have guessed. She held out her hand and took the broom, while letting go of Neville and gripping the Nimbus in both hands, a determined blaze in her eyes.

"Thank you!" she said. "I won't disappoint you!" and after that, Ginny stormed into the locker room, looking livelier than any of her fellow team members.

Heidi watched her go feeling a tad irritated with herself. She hadn't been so fond of the idea of letting go of the broom, even if she'd been incapable of playing Quidditch for the rest of her life, the Nimbus had been a trusty companion, and she'd have wanted to keep it. But McGonagall had caught up with her last night, and had persuaded her to give it up for this match, arguing that Ginny might need the encouragement.

"I can't believe you just did that," Neville's voice drew her out of her thoughts.

"Me neither," she admitted irked at her head of house. She was suddenly pulled into a fierce embrace, as Neville buried his head in her shoulder and said "Thank you," in such an emotion-filled voice that it caught Heidi of guard. The boy let go of her, and after giving her one last beaming smile, he ran off towards the stands, leaving a very much bewildered Heidi behind.

Heidi rushed back to the castle after that. The thunderstorm that had started a few hours early made her half gad that she wouldn't partake in today's match, but then she remembered that she might not be able to play at all, and quickly dismissed the thought from her mind.

Hermione and Diana were waiting for her at the entrance hall, while talking to Filch, the caretaker, who wasn't a big fan of Quidditch, and therefore didn't attend the matched.

"Quickly, inside!" Filch rushed her when he saw her running through the rain.

"You should have taken an umbrella!" Hermione chided as she proceeded to dry her clothes.

"Slipped my mind," Heidi said grinning. "Where's Hagrid?" she asked Diana, and her sister was quick to scout the map for him.

"Nearly here," the red-haired answered.

"Is he with…?" Heidi asked to be sure.

"Yes," Diana nodded her head.

"Well, then, let's go!" Heidi ordered, and after snatching the Marauder's Map, she and Hermione grabbed a hold of Mister Filch and dragged him inside the Great Hall, where they hide behind the double doors.

"What are you three up to?" Filch asked looking suspicious at them.

"Don't worry Mister Filch, sir. It's nothing dangerous," Hermione tried to assure, but she was stuttering way too much to be convincing.

"Shush!" Heidi snapped and pulled out the map.

Outside, a few strides away from the front oak doors, advancing at a steady pace, was none other than Hagrid, their old friend, whom none of the kids wanted to believe would ever be capable of betraying them. And Heidi truly believe he hadn't. Granted the giant was a bit on the dumb side and couldn't keep a secret to save his life, but that didn't mean that he'd willingly betray someone. Hagrid was fiercely loyal, stubbornly so, he wouldn't out right sell a friend, and it was about time someone cleared his name. Because, beside Hagrid, following as faithfully as ever, were two dots. One belonged to Fang the Borehound, and the other to Sirius Back.

If Hagrid was innocent, and if Heidi's reasoning was true, than the one walking through that door alongside Hagrid and Fang should be…

The front double doors opened with a crack, and the roaring of the thunderstorm lasher inside, as the giant of a man stepped through the threshold, closely followed by his faithful companion Fang, and… Fluffy, Diana's precious little dog.

Heidi smirked. _Gotcha!_


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: **Sorry! This chapter should have been finished ages ago, but my mom got hospitalized, and exams started, and life just plain sucked in the last month or so, so I didn't have the will or time to write. I'll _try_ to make it up to you (big emphasis on try, because I haven't written anything in so long, that it's hard for me to get back into it at the moment), but I'm not promising anything. Anyway, enjoy your chapter!

**Chapter 9: The Mole**

"Fluffy?" Diana smiled excitedly as she rushed over to her precious little dog and petted him fondly on the head. "You're soaked," she remarked and pulled out her wand to cast a drying spell. Then she turned to Hagrid. "I didn't know you were going to bring him," she said, smiling happily at the gigantic man.

Hagrid furrowed his brows. "But, aint that why ya wanted to meet me?" he asked confused. "Ter see Fluffy?"

Heidi and Hermione glanced worried at one another.

"You did tell Diana that Fluffy was Black, right?" Hermione asked nervously.

"I…" Heidi fumbled, trying to remember when she'd told her sister, because she was sure she did! She just couldn't remember…

"Well?" Hermione asked impatient.

"I…think I didn't…" Heidi said apologetically.

"You WHAT?" Hermione screeched at her, looking ready to throttle her where she stood.

"What are you two up to?" Filch asked sounding suspicious.

The two girls squirmed under the caretaker's hard glance and Heidi opened her mouth, ready to spill out some wacky tale that would placate the caretaker, when Diana suddenly screeched: "You! You're Sirius Black! Don't even think about taking one more step!"

Heidi, Hermione and Filch turned in wonder to find Diana with her wand out and pointed aggressively at a small girl, who'd just entered the Great Hall. It was Luna Lovegood, who gazed at the red-haired in confusion, while Fluffy, the real perpetrator, was slowly retreating towards the stairs which lead to the dungeons.

"Stupefy!" Heidi snarled. The red beam of light, flew towards Fluffy with incredible speed, and the canine was blasted several feat into the air and propelled into the concrete wall.

"What are you doing?" Diana shrieked, looking horrified at Fluffy's fallen figure.

"Forgot to mention," Heidi began apologetically. "That's Sirius Black," she said, while pointing at Fluffy.

"Could someone tell me what the ruddy hell is going on here?" Hagrid asked, a mixture between confusion and anger marring his features.

"You three have got some serious explaining to do!" Filch told them.

"Can I move now?" Luna asked from her frozen position beside the door.

"Of course you can move Luna," Hermione assured her, and the little girl took a few steps forward and stretched out, looking like someone who'd never walked before in his life.

Heidi ignored the chaos around her, in favor of stunning Fluffy a second time and casting a binding spell upon him, just for good measure.

"Hermione," Diana came up to the curly-haired and asked: "What is going on here?"

Filch, Hagrid and Luna all crowded around Hermione and looked expectant at her.

"Well… am…where should I begin…" Hermione swallowed hard, completely lost as to what she should say.

"Come now people, do I really need to reiterate my statement?" Heidi asked sounding annoyed. "I've told you already what's going on! This," she pointed at Fluffy, "is Sirius Black!"

"But you said-"

"I said we were going to catch Black! And we did!" Heidi interrupted her sister. "I might have forgotten to mention _who_ exactly Black was, but that's beside the point!"

"No it isn't!" Diana snapped annoyed. "I nearly stunned Luna!"

"That's quite alright," Luna said, looking nonplussed by the whole ordeal.

"But, I don' understand," Hagrid said. "Yer saying that Sirius Black is Fluffy?"

"Yes, and I can prove it too," Heidi said confidently. She walked up to the confused group of people, and pulled out the Marauder's Map from her pocket.

"This map shows the name and exact location of every person that is wondering Hogwarts' grounds at the moment." She showed them the Entrance Hall, where the dots of Heidi Potter, Diana Potter, Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, Argus Filch, Missis Norris, Hagrid Rubeus and Fang were mashed together next to the door which led towards the Dining Hall, and right next to them, a little off the entrance towards the dungeons was the dot of Sirius Black, in the place where Fluffy should have been.

"I can' believe it," Hagrid said bewildered. Filch was gaping at the map like a goldfish out of water, while Luna looked just as nonplused as ever. "And I've been taking care of that son of a -"

Hagrid rushed towards Black's fallen figure looking furious. He scooped the dog up by the hem of the back of his neck in one swift motion and briskly made his way towards the double doors which led to the outside.

"Hagrid!" Heidi called the giant back.

"You's girls have done and admirable job catching this crook," Hagrid told them as he opened the two double doors. "Now, I'll take him ter Dumbledore and this whole mess will be sorted out soon." Filch nodded looking relieved to see Hagrid go, while Diana and Hermione shared a panicked look.

"No you won't!" Heidi snapped at him, startling the giant.

"What?" Hagrid turned to look at her confused.

"You're putting him down right now!" Heidi ordered him. "I'm not done with him!"

"O' course you are!" Hagrid said stubbornly.

"So, what? I don't get a chance to interrogate my parents' traitor?" Heidi snapped at him.

Hagrid stopped dead in his tracks and turned slowly to look at her.

"Who told you that?" Hagrid asked looking grim.

"My mother," Heidi answered. "Missis Longbottom persuaded them into telling us last summer, thinking it would help us understand the gravity of the situation and keep us away from Black."

"Well, ya should have listened to them!" Hagrid said stubbornly.

"She told me that's my Godfather!" Heidi snapped at the giant, shutting him up in one go. "She told me he was my parent's Sacred Keeper! That he was supposed to keep them safe from Voldemort, but instead he betrayed them! And I want to know why! My sister and I have the right to know why he betrayed his best friend to that monster, before you usher him up to Dumbledore, who's surely going to hand him over to the Dementors to be kissed!"

"Dumbledore'll tell ya if ya ask him," Hagrid said, trying to placate her.

"I don't care what Dumbledore has to say!" Heidi snapped at him. "It's him I want to hear!" she thrusted her finger in Fluffy's direction and then pulled out her wand from her socket. "Now, put him down! Or I _will_ stun you!"

"Heidi, you should listen-" Filched tried to but in, but Diana grabbed his hand firmly and, without taking her eyes off her giant friend, she asked softly:

"I'm sorry, mister Filch, but can you please stay out of this?"

Filch glanced at her for a few more seconds, debating whether to oblige or protest, and then decided that it wasn't his place to do so, and nodded mutely.

Hagrid still looked troubled between his two small friends. The truth was, he was scared to leave Black in their presence any longer. What if he tried to kill them when he came through? He couldn't let that happen. Not only would Dumbledore be disappointed, but he would have failed his old friends Lily and James as well. No he should take Black to Dumbledore!

"If it were me," Luna said softly to the enormous man. "I'd want to know."

Those words stopped Hagrid in place for a moment. Yes, he completely understood the curiosity. He himself had been curious about his mother when he was a child. In spite of the fact that she'd left him, he had wanted to know more about her. And this, wretched human being, was the girls' last connection to their parents. It might hurt to know, but it was better than living in the dark for the rest of their lives wondering what went wrong. And he was a little curious himself, and he'd stay with the girls and make sure nothing went wrong.

"Alright," the giant nodded his head and the kids beamed at him gratefully. "But I'm staying with yeh!" he warned, and Heidi nodded her head.

"Of course!"

"And we're taking him straight ter Dumbledore when we're done!" He added, just for good measure.

"Absolutely!" Heidi agreed.

-OOOOOOO-

The kids decided to interrogate Black in Filch's office, since it was out of sight, and, unlike an empty class room, there was absolutely no chance at all for a student, or teacher to walk by uninvited and interrupt them.

After they arrived in Filch's office, Hermione pointed her wand at Black, and muttered the incantation to turn him back into a human, which revealed a scruffy-haired, ragged-dressed, gaunt looking individual. Though his face seemed to have regained some of its color, he was still white as a chalk.

"That's him," Hagrid confirmed. "That's Sirius Black!"

Heidi wordlessly proceeded to lift the unconscious figure off the ground and on to a chair, and after tying him with a few strong binding spells, she stunned him once more for good measure.

"You might want to be carful with those," Luna warned her. "They might cause severe memory loss! That's how my dad recons that the ministry gets people to keep quiet about their misdeeds when the individuals decided they've had enough of the farce."

Hermione glared skeptically at her. "Oh really? And I've heard that having one stunned repeatedly can cause complications to the respective organs where it strikes!" She added for good measure: "In Black's case, the Pleural cavity."

"Hermione," Heidi began looking troubled. "Are you arguing against Luna, or for her? Because from what you've just said, a repeated stunning spell to the brain does seem like it could cause amnesia, if not brain damage in the worst case."

"No, it can't cause amnesia!" Hermione snapped looking very much annoyed at Heidi for contradicting her. "Brain damage is more likely! And anyway, we've got bigger problems on our hands!"

"Actually it can cause amnesia," Diana informed Hermione. "I read about it in one of the Healing books from the library." Hermione threw her a peeved look. "But, you're right, we have bigger issues at hand," Diana hasted in saying and quickly switched her gaze to Black.

"So, shouldn't we get started?" asked Filch.

"Not yet," Heidi said. "We still need to get something."

"What do we need to get?" asked Diana.

"Veritaserum," Heidi informed them. "We can't interrogate Black without it! He might lie to us!"

"What-serum?" asked a confused looking Diana.

"It's a truth serum," Luna informed her. "Snape mentioned it to us once after a class with the Gryffindors, and told us he had a way of finding out who stole from his storage, in case we ever try."

"Well, I'm afraid that's exactly what we're going to have to do," Heidi informed them.

"What?" Diana asked sounding mortified. "You want to steel from Snape's supplies?"

"Not from Snape's supplies," Heidi corrected her. "From his storage room."

"Are ya mad 'Eidi?" Hagrid asked looking thunderstruck.

"No, actually, I'm not. Why did you think I chose this particular time to interrogate Black?" Heidi asked him. "Because Snape and almost everyone else are out on the Quidditch field, which means his storage room is the most vulnerable at the time. We can just sneak in and grab what we need, then sneak out."

"You do realize just how many holes that plan has, like: The Quidditch match might have ended by now, just to name one?" Hermione asked her.

"The match isn't over," Heidi assured her and showed her the Marauders Map. "See? Everyone else is still at the Quidditch pitch, and see those little black dots that are buzzing all over the place? Those are the team players."

"I see, but anyway, steeling from a teacher is-"

"No different now that what you wanted to do in our second year Hermione to brew that Polyjuice Potion!" Heidi snapped at her. "Only, now we have a good reason to do so!"

"Polyjuice Potion, ya brewed Polyjuice Potion in yer second year?" asked Hagrid abashed.

"No, we thought the plan was stupid," Diana informed him. Hermione shot the red-haired an annoyed look.

"It was not stupid! It was-"

"Will you stop it!" Heidi snapped loosing her last bit of patience. "We're running out of time here! We don't know how long it's going to take for that match to reach its conclusion, and we need to get Madam Pomfrey from the hospital wing and then make it to Snape's storage room and back before anyone finds out! We're not at leisure to make arguments!"

"Why do we need Madam Pomfrey?" asked a confused looking Hermione.

"Seriously Hermione," Heidi chided annoyed. "Will you be able to tell the difference between Veritaserum and all the other potions we'll find in that storage room for certain?"

"But, Madam Pomfrey might rat us out!" Diana protested.

"Believe me, she won't," Heidi assured them.

"How can you be sure?" Diana persisted.

"Will you stop that meaningless babble! We're losing time here! I'm going to get Madam Pomfrey! In the mean time, you all better make sure Black doesn't escape will I'm gone!"

Heidi ran out the door before anyone else decided to question her plan, but Hermione, being as stubborn as she was, wouldn't let her leave without a fight.

"This plan has more holes in it than a slice of cheese!" she informed her friend. "And how do you know that Madam Pomfrey won't rat us out?"

"She mad an Unbreakable Vow that she'd keep any secret I have for the rest of her life," Heidi informed her. "That's why I told her about my addiction problem."

"She what?" Hermione asked bewildered. "What was wrong with her?"

"She's never been cheated before, that's what," Heidi said.

"Not until now," Hermione said in a disapproving tome. "I can't believe you'd do that!"

"Desperate times, Hermione!" Heidi snapped, and warned her with a hard look to stop talking. Hermione obliged, but not before throwing her friend another disapproving glance.

The two girls easily made their way to the Hospital Wing without encountering a soul in their path. It seemed even the ghosts had left for the Quidditch field to watch the game.

Heidi knocked on the hospital wing door, and the two girls entered after Madam Pomfrey gave them permission to do so.

"Miss Potter, what are you doing here?" Madam Pomfrey asked surprised. "We don't have another appointment till tonight."

"I know, I'm not here for the potion," Heidi informed her. "I'm here to ask you a favor."

Heidi glared at Hermione, who had her hands folded in front of her chest, with her back turned towards her, and was currently giving her the silent treatment. It seemed like she was on her own in this particular little venture.

Madam Pomfrey's face sharpened, and she gave the two girls a suspicious look before asking: "What kind of favor?"

"It's a secret," Heidi told her, and Madam Pomfrey's eyes widened as she felt something stir inside her chest as her magic swirled uncomfortably.

"I don't want to-"

The nurse tried to say, but Heidi swiftly cut her off by informing her: "It's about Sirius Black." Which had Madam Pomfrey close her eyes in resignation for a few seconds, and then anger rose to her face.

"How could you?" the nurse asked annoyed.

"I'm sorry, but if there was any other way I wouldn't have done this, but there isn't and there isn't enough time, and I really, really need your help!" Heidi pleaded.

"Help with what?" asked Madam Pomfrey sharply. "And just so you know, I'm not interested in helping you sneak out of the castle to go looking for Black!"

"We caught Black!" Heidi informed her, shocking the nurse. "And we need to get our hands on a vial of Veritaserum in order to interrogate him."

After the nurse regained her composure, she stated pointedly at Heidi and informed her: "Well, you've come to the wrong place. I do not have any Veritaserum in my storage room. The use of such a potion on students is strictly prohibited!"

"I know that," Heidi assured her. "I didn't come her to ask for the potion, I want you to help me identify it!"

"Identify it?" Madam Pomfrey asked confused.

"Yes," Heidi nodded, and her voice grew fainter as she mumbled: "Well, I was wondering if… if you could…um…if you could help us identify the bottle from Snape's private storage room?" she pleaded, with her best puppy dog look in place, but Madam Pomfrey gave her a sharp look that told her exactly what she thought of her crazy idea.

"Not a chance!" the nurse informed her. "I will remind you Miss Potter that while I might not be able to tell anyone about your little _secret_, I am not compelled to help you carry out this insane plan of yours!"

"I know," Heidi assured her. "But without you, we won't know which vial to pick!"

"And how is that any of my business?" Madam Pomfrey asked peeved. "I think I've endured your charade enough for a lifetime Miss Potter! I most definitely will make sure to never make the same mistake when I take an oath again! Now, I don't expect to see you again till the evening! Good day!"

The nurse turned to leave, her feet making a quick getaway for her personal chamber, while Heidi struggled to come up with a plausible excuse to have the nurse help her. Hermione sighed and called the nurse back.

"Please!" She begged the nurse. "I know the way Heidi played on that oath was wrong, but we really have no where else to go."

The nurse turned to Hermione, still bearing an unyielding expression. "As I've said, that is none of my business!"

"No, it isn't," Hermione agreed. "And frankly, it isn't my business either," she turned a shark glance Heidi's way, who, at the very leased, had the decency to look away in shame. "But I can understand how she feels," Hermione went on to explain. "Last summer, Diana picked up a dog from the Wembley stadium, which we later found out was none other than Sirius Black. He lived in the same how as we did for a whole month. He ate with us, played with us and slept with us. If he really wanted to kill us, as the papers seem to imply, than he missed out on one hell of an opportunity for an entire month! And I doubt Black thought he couldn't get away with it! He could have easily killed us in our sleep and then run away, and problem solved. But he didn't! And that's what we're trying to find out!" She turned to Heidi for confirmation, and the girl was quick to nod her head.

"Please," Hermione continued. "We're not asking you to steal the vial for us, you don't even have to go inside the storage room, just, just point us to the right bottle, and you'll never have to hear of this again! We promise not to get you involved, or even mention you if we get caught! Please, will you help us?" Hermione's pleading expression and honest words seemed to placate Madam Pomfrey somewhat, as her hard glance softened into something closely resembling pity.

She stayed silent for a few minutes molding the girl's request over in her head, while Hermione still gazed at her pleadingly and Heidi sat still and with her face downcast.

"Alright," she gave in after a few long minutes of silence, a long suffering breath escaping her, up until now, tight shut lips. "But I'd like to be present for the interrogation," she informed them. "I, too, am interested in finding out how that mischievous little pipsqueak turned into a traitorous fiend."

"Of course!" The girls assured her as relieved expressions spread on their faces.

"Thank you," Hermione said, as she threw a grateful smiling the nurse's way.

"Shall we go then?" Heidi asked beaming with joy.

"You're luck to have such great friend Miss Potter!" Madam Pomfrey warned her in a sharp voice and led the way out of the Hospital Wing. Heidi shot Hermione a grateful look, which the brunet chose to ignore.

Getting to Snape's potions supply however proved to be more troublesome than they thought, seeing as, Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, probably the only three people who weren't attending the Quidditch match, were parading around the dungeons where, unfortunately, Snape's storage room happened to be.

"Great! Just great!" Heidi cursed looking peeved.

"How are we gonna get pass them?" Hermione asked worried.

"I have my invisibility cloak with me," Heidi told them. "But those idiots are standing right in front of the storage room!"

"That might be because the Slytherin common room is right behind them," Madam Pomfrey informed them.

Heidi cursed colorfully, while Hermione gave a troubled look and took the Marauders Map from Heidi, wanting to make sure the Quidditch match hadn't ended, but something peculiar caught her eyes: A name, standing a few strides away from Filch's office, Hermione Jean Granger's name to be precise.

Hermione panicked, suddenly feeling like she didn't have enough oxygen to breath. She threw an alarmed look Heidi's way, who had her brows furrowed in concentration, as her eyes wildly scanned the corridor probably thinking of a way to distract the three Slytherins, while Madam Pomfrey appeared to be in a similar state of mind. She was terribly frightened. If Heidi decided to scan the map now, she'd certainly find the fact that there were two Hermione Grangers running around Hogwarts suspicious. No! She couldn't let that happen! McGonagall had warned her not to let that happen! But what was she supposed to do? How did she end up there in the first place? How?

"Someone's going to have to distract them," Heidi spoke startling Hermione from her daze. "I'll do it. I'll take the map and the cloak and lead them away from the corridor, while you two grab the bottle of Veritaserum and we'll rendezvous at Filch's office."

"No!" Hermione screamed looking frightened. "I should go!"

After making sure that Malfoy and his cronies hadn't heard the scream, Heidi turned to her friend looking worried. "Hermione is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong," Hermione tried to assure her in the calmest tone she could manage, but neither Madam Pomfrey nor Heidi seemed to have bought it. "I mean, you need to be there to interrogate Black! You shouldn't worry yourself with Malfoy and his cronies; I can take care of them for you!"

"Are you sure?" Heidi asked still looking troubled. "Because it's not as easy as it sounds," she warned her friend.

"Positive!" Hermione assured her. "I'll catch up to you in no time!" she hastily nodded her head and held out her hand. "Now give me the cloak!"

"Ok," Heidi said looking somewhat resigned and pulled out her invisibility cloak from her robes and handed it to Hermione. Hermione reached out her hand to grab the cloak but Heidi abruptly pulled it back and said: "Be careful!" in a pleading voice.

Hermione nodded, looking somewhat guilty for making her friend worry. "I will, she assured," and after Heidi's grip finally loosened on the cloak, Hermione grabbed it and swiftly swung it over her head, disappearing from sight.

Madam Pomfrey gasped startled and whispered bewildered: "Where did you get that?"

"It was a present from my father," Heidi said as means of explanation, and Madam Pomfrey nodded comprehensively, and the two proceeded to wait for their chance to get into the storage room.

Hermione shakily made her way around Draco Malfoy as she pondered on how to get out of this mess. She doubted her distraction of Malfoy and his cronies went well if she'd felt the need to use _it_ in order to rectify her mistake. But then, what was she supposed to do? Fail, like her successor had? Or was it predecessor?

_Bullocks!_ She swore, getting more frustrated by the minute. Anyway, she couldn't waste more time around here, after all, that Quidditch match couldn't last forever, and Heidi and Madam Pomfrey needed to get back to Filch's office.

Hermione stopped in her track and noticed that she'd ended up at the turn of the corridor, which turned right towards a part of the dungeons she wasn't familiar with. She twirled around to look at Draco and his cronies, just standing there, seemingly scheming about something and wondered how to distract them.

Being, not exactly creative, and at the end of her theater, Hermione chose the Gryffindor approach at dealing with the matter. She hid herself in the shadow of the corner, took out her wand and carefully lifted her cloak and slid her wand from underneath it. Taking aim at the wall behind one of Malfoy's cronies, she slowly whispered "Stupefy!", and then, shouted in the manliest voice she could muster "Down with Slytherin!" and then, turned and ran down the corridor as fast as she could.

Malfoy and Crabbe were startled when Goyle went tumbling down right in front of them, and then someone uttered that stupid phrase that Gryffindors liked to splutter at every match they had with the Slytherins, which truly annoyed them to hell. Draco pulled out his wand and muttered a quick "Enervate," before dashing in the direction the stunner had come, with Crabbe and Goyle at his heals.

Madam Pomfrey and Heidi didn't waste a second of their distraction, and dashed inside Snape's storage room.

Madam Pomfrey pushed Heidi aside and quickly climbed the ladder to the third shelf from above and swiftly snatched a small, black bottle with no tag on it. "Let's go!" she prompted as she climbed down the last few steps and exited the storage room, with Heidi trailing behind her.

-OOOOOOO-

Hermione knew she was in trouble. Her footsteps were echoing loudly as they slammed down the marble floor, and Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle were slowly catching up to her, not to mention the fact that she was nearly out of breath. In her desperation to get away from them, she took a left turn nearly collided with the thick wall in front. She turned swiftly, only to find Malfoy and his cronies blocking her way, looking wildly around. Hermione's breath caught in her throat.

Crabbe and Goyle shared confused looks. "Why have we stopped?" one of them asked.

"That's because the footsteps stopped!" Draco hissed at him angrily, and gestured for him to shut up.

Hermione panicked. They knew she was here. Or at the very least Malfoy knew, anyway, she was screwed.

_Not if I manage to sneak pass them_, she thought desperately and debated on whether that was possible or not. The three Slytherins were spread neatly in a sort of arc around her, Crabbe and Goyle blocking her left and middle effectively, while Malfoy was blocking her right. She quickly gave up the idea, and debated the possibility of escape if she stunned them one at a time, and realized that wouldn't work unless she started with Malfoy, and even then, getting pass both Crabbe and Goyle would be a stretch.

She had just given up on that plan as well, and was considering the option of sticking herself to the wall and waiting for them to leave, when Malfoy moved towards Crabbe and Goyle, and instructed them to scout the surrounding area for any Gryffindors, creating a big enough gape on Hermione's right for her to slip by. She didn't waste a second of it and dashed to her right, but the moment her foot landed on the marble floor, it made a big echoing sound which alerted the three Slytherins to her presence.

Hermione didn't have time to regret her choice, as she felt a body slam hard into her back, sending her flying to the floor.

"An invisibility cloak eh?" she heard Draco utter spitefully as he pulled on her cloak and with a rough gesture, turned her around to face him. "Granger?" Draco asked bewildered as shock covered his pointed visage, which quickly took on a mischievous shape. "What might you be doing here?" he asked in a teasing tone as Crabbe and Goyle chuckled darkly behind him.

Hermione gulped feeling nothing less then a lam stuck in the clutches of a ferocious dragon.

-OOOOOOO-

Heidi and Madam Pomfrey rushed out of the dungeons, and pass the Great Hall, around the Marble Stairway, and through an opening on the right, which revealed the entrance to the classrooms on the ground floor. Among those classrooms, after a right turn, room 234 was where Mister Filch's office resided, and exactly where one Hermione Granger was waiting for them.

"Hermione? How did you get here so fast?" Heidi stopped to inquire the moment she saw her friend.

Hermione turned towards them, looking as white as a ghost, but with her cheeks sparkling bloody red, which took on an even deeper shade of burgundy as she stammered to say "I…I found a, passageway on the map," she shook her head reassuringly, though whether she was trying to reassure herself or them remained a mystery.

"Ok…" Heidi nodded not looking so convinced.

"Are you alright dear?" Madam Pomfrey asked kindly. "You don't look so well," the nurse remarked. "Maybe you should drop by my office after this for a little checkup. Just to make sure you're alright."

"No, there's no need," Hermione said quickly. "I'm just a little out of breath because of all the running, that's all."

"Well, if you're sure…" the nurse said doubtfully. "Remember that my doors are always open for you children."

"I will. Thank you," Hermione nodded looking grateful, and a little eager to get this conversation over and done with.

"We'd better go inside," Heidi prompted and opened the door to Filch's office.

Filch, Hagrid, Diana and Luna peered up at them expectantly as the two girls and Madam Pomfrey struggled to make their way into Filch's office and close the door.

Madam Pomfrey gave a loud gasp as her gaze landed upon Black's stunned figure, which was seated on the chair in front of Filch's desk, with Diana hanging on his right, and Luna standing serenely on his left.

"It's getting' kind o' crowded in here," Hagrid complained as he squished himself against the way, to make room for Madam Pomfrey.

"My office wasn't built to accommodate so many individuals," Filch said in his defense, and sat himself on top of the chest with confiscated items, in order to make room for Luna, who let Heidi make her way around the desk and to Black's left side.

"Couldn't you people choose a wider interrogation room?" Madam Pomfrey whined.

"It was the best we could find on such short notice," Hermione whispered in her ear and prayed that Filch hadn't heard her.

"Can we just get this over with?" Diana snapped at them, and the group instantly fell silent. "Heidi?" the red-haired asked expectantly, and Heidi nodded mutely, then turned to Madam Pomfrey and held out her hand.

The nurse swiftly pulled out the small black bottle they had whipped from Snape's office, and handed it over to Heidi. The brunet quickly undid the lid and instructed Diana to reanimate him, as she brought the bottle to Black's lips and nodded to her sister.

"Enervate!" Diana chanted and tapped Black with her wand, who jumped slightly and promptly opened his eyes. As soon as his mouth opened the slightest bit, Heidi brought the bottle of potion to his lips and after letting a bit of the contents slip into his mouth, she quickly covered his mouth and nose with her hands and ordered him to: "Swallow!"

Sirius choked slightly and shock his head, while wrestling with his bindings.

"Listen to me Black!" Heidi demanded in a spiteful tone. "We caught you! We know about your little animagus trick, and you know very well that there are Dementors patrolling the school gates right now and if I so wished it, I could hand you over to them in the blink of an eye, and believe me, if you're lucky enough to not get the kiss, there won't be another chance for you to slip away like you did last time. But considering the humiliation that you brought Fudge, I'm pretty sure you're already up for death's roll as far as he's concerned, but I'm willing to make you an offer: Swallow the few drops of Veritaserum that I gave you, and I'll do everything I can to get you a fair trial, if you prove your innocence. Fail to do so, and not only will you confirm your guilt to me and-"

Heidi didn't get the chance to finish her well rehearsed speech, as she felt Black's jaws clench beneath her hands, as he swallowed the potion in his mouth.

"That was easy," Diana said surprised.

Heidi agreed wholeheartedly with her statement, though she'd be lying if she said she hadn't expected this.

Frankly speaking, she'd molded the idea of Fluffy being Black in her head all night, and tried to come up with a few reasonable explanations as to why Black would feel the need to do such a troublesome, and at the same time, extremely risky thing? There were two plausible answers for this: One was that Black was ordered by Voldemort to do so, or he himself decided to take the position of an undercover spy, and keep tabs on them, and somehow leak the information back to Voldemort (in case he was already in contact with his boss), or be in a favorable position to take them out when his master came back. In either case, one could conclude that Voldemort either did not wish to kill her and her sister (a likely case if the Tom Riddle from her dreams was really Voldemort, though she didn't exactly believe that), or: He wanted to kill them personally, in which case, none of his followers should be allowed to touch them.

The second option, as stupid as it sounded, was that Black might have been innocent (now that really sounded wrong for so many reasons), and that he was actually framed as a killer by somebody else. Though how that could happen was beyond Heidi's reasoning abilities, but as faint as it was, if Black did turn out to be innocent, then…his behavior in the last few months would make a whole of a lot more sense than if he was guilty. As much as she wanted to believe that Black was a bad person, the fact still remained that a lot of his actions didn't ad up. If he had been in contact with his master, why choose to spy on them instead of helping his master come back to power? Or did that mean that Voldemort had been restored to power already? She honestly doubted that. Why not kill them outright? Why waste so much time doing nothing, and wait for Halloween to attack them if he had a way of finding their schedule, and, therefore, would have known they wouldn't be in the common room at the time?

Even with all that though, the chances that Black was innocent seemed extremely unlikely to Heidi, and she'd never delude herself into believing it without absolute proof, which was what this whole Veritaserum-trial was all about. If Black was innocent, he'd have no reason as to not drink the potion, since it would be in his greatest interest for the truth to be found out. But, if Black was guilty, then he'd have to be mad to drink the potion! Since then everyone would know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was guilty.

Yet, still Black had swallowed the potion…

Heidi's hands were still clapped over his mouth, as she gazed uncertain into his calm and determined eyes. He'd stopped struggling completely, lying unfazed in the bounded chair, like he was at a friend's house for the afternoon tea.

_Is he mad, or innocent_? Heidi wondered as she slowly lowered her hands form his face.

Sirius didn't speak, he continued gazing at her silently, while Diana, her notoriously low tempered sister, had enough of the silence and posed the question that everyone in the room wanted to know the answer to:

"Did you betray my parents to Voldemort or not?" she confronted Black with a blazing look in her eyes.

Black's gaze shifted on her, sadness and grief clouded his eyes as he faltered slightly before answering: "No."

A burst of voices and sounds filled Filch's office the moment that single word was uttered.

Madam Pomfrey and Hermione gasped in shock.

"That's a lie!" Hagrid spat out in outrage.

Luna's serene look turned quizzical, while Mister Filch's eyebrows rose so high, they were threatening to burst out of his head.

"Shush!" Heidi snapped at Hagrid, while Diana lay motionless with shock beside her.

Black's grey orbs had looked straight into Diana's hazel ones as he'd made his confession, and for some unexplainable reason, the red-haired couldn't find it in herself to believe that the gaunt-figure was lying to her.

The giant of a man however, didn't let himself be swayed from believing in Black's guilt like Diana, and pushed Madam Pomfrey to the side, while making his way towards Black.

"How dare ya lie to the girls? Ya ruddy crook!" Hagrid roared looking positively outraged. Hermione and Madam Pomfrey latched themselves onto the giant, trying in vain to hold him down.

"Hagrid!" Heidi snapped at him. "Back off!" she ordered, pulling out her wand. "This has nothing to do with you!"

"It ruddy well has!" Hagrid protested. "I fed this crook! I took care o' him! I-" he faltered, the anger taking the best of him again, as he tried to push his way pass Hermione and Madam Pomfrey, and around the table towards Black, but he suddenly came face-to-face with Heidi's wand.

"You will calm down or I _will_ stun you!" Heidi said forcibly. Her impeccable white wand was glowing slightly, the tip already ignited with sparks, and Hagrid was sure in that moment that the brunet too was at the end of her theater, and that she'd hold true to her word if he didn't back down.

"I should'v taken ya ter Dumbledore when I had the chance!" He said spitefully, and then, much to Hermione and Madam Pomfrey's relieve, he sank down back against the wall.

Heidi eased the grip on her wand and lowered it looking very much relieved.

"Then who did?" an emotion-filled voice from Heidi's left asked, and the brunet turned to give her sister a puzzled look.

Diana was staring Black down with a hard expression in place, her fists clenched, her pose rigid like a stone, and her eyes red and puffy. "Who did it?" she asked again. "If it wasn't you…who betrayed them?"

Black had lowered his tear-stained eyes to the floor, not bearing to look at her, but he still spat out reluctantly: "Peter Pettigrew," being forced by the truth serum to answer. "It was Peter Pettigrew."

"That's a lie!" Hagrid roared again. "Pettigrew's dead! Ya killed him!"

"Hagrid! If you're not capable of shutting up for one god damn minute that please get the hell outta here!" it was Diana who'd rebuked Hagrid this time, stunning the giant into death silence.

Diana whirled around, to face Black again, and demanded: "What happened? Tell me what happened to Pettigrew!"

Black stammered unaware of how to answer the question.

"Who was James and Lily Potter's secret keeper?" Heidi decided to ask helpfully.

"I was, originally," Black answered without faltering. "But James and I suspected we had a mole in the order, and that he might rat us out to Voldemort, so we decided that it was best if James picked someone else as his secret keeper, someone inconspicuous, but who we'd placed our complete trust into-"

"Yer not about ter blame this on Professor Lupin, cause-"

"HAGRID!" Diana thundered, and the giant slammed his mouth shut with a bang.

"No, we didn't choose Lupin," Sirius answered either way. "Because, at the time…" he lowered his eyes to the ground, looking extremely ashamed of himself; "at the time we thought he might be the mole."

"But he wasn't?" Diana threw in a wild guess.

"No," Sirius shuck his head. "He wasn't. He believed in James and me, in spite of our doubt in him," Sirius said in a broken voice and started weeping silently.

"Where you and Professor Lupin close?" Heidi asked curiously. There was a piece of information she was not aware of.

Sirius sniffed once and answered: "Yes." He sniffed again and continued with: "We were all in the same year, as well as the same house: James, Lupin, Peter and I… Gryffindors, all four of us."

"And you were close?" Heidi persisted.

"I had thought so," Sirius answered. "Well, I guess…back in school we might have been."

"What do you mean by _might have been_?" Heidi queried.

"I mean that I don't know," Sirius said truthful. "I thought we were friends, considering all that we'd been through while we were in school. I… I thought that after all we'd done for him, he'd…" Sirius stammered unsure of what he wanted to say. How do you find the right words to describe what he was feeling right now? Frankly he himself didn't know, but the truth serum was demanding an answer out of him, and he was forced to talk. "I thought we'd meant as much to Peter as he meant to us. I though he was willing to put himself in harms' way for a friend, but…so I… " he took a big chunk of air and confessed brokenly: "I told James to switch to Peter. I told him to let Peter be his new secret keeper… And there isn't a day that passes by when I don't regret that decision." He lowered his head to the ground, and this time, the tears really came through, clouding his vision and staining his gaunt like cheeks up until they reached his bushy beard, where they'd mingle with the chaotic pieces of hair, never to be seen again.

Hagrid was shaking his head in disbelief, but his expression had softened somewhat, moved by Sirius honest words. Madam Pomfrey was weeping silently beside him.

"You poor dear," she choked out and covered her face with her hands.

Hermione and Luna's faces were marred with pity and sadness, while Filch was still looking on in doubt.

Diana was already won over, half way to tears even, but Heidi was another matter. She'd yet to be convinced of Black's innocence. Sure he was under Veritaserum, but who ever said there wasn't a way around the damn potion? Maybe he was lying? After all, it was easy to place the blame on a dead man who could no longer defend himself. And he had yet to tell the whole story.

"What happened next?" Heidi demanded. "After Peter was made secret keeper, what happened next?"

Sirius slowly lifted his head from the ground, and took another mouthful of breath, before answering: "Three days later, on October 31, Voldemort came to your house, and…" he wanted to stop there, there was no need to say anything else, but the truth serum wouldn't let him. "And he killed your parents… And I finally realized just how stupid I was for not seeing Peter for what he truly was."

He went on without having to be asked to continue. "And I was even more stupid that night. I came by the house to check on James, since we'd agreed to spend Halloween together, but by the time I got there…" he paused, slightly shaking his head, his eyes distant, as if he was reliving the events of that night twelve years ago, and when he spoke again, his voice was slightly more controlled, numb even: "The house was already in flames, and Hagrid was rushing out of the house carrying you two. I, I asked him what had happened, and am, he, he told me… he told me your parents were…" his features molded into a hallow look, like a child who had suddenly been dumped on the streets and couldn't understand why "…he told me your parent's were dead…and I," he lifted his hallow gaze up at them. "And I didn't know what to do. I was suddenly filled with all this…anger and contempt, and I didn't know what to do with it, I didn't even know what I was actually feeling at the time, I just knew that Peter was to blame, and so I chased him down. I chased him down and found him in an alley filled with Muggles, and, am…"

"And what?" Heidi prompted.

"And he panicked," there was a crazy smile on his face, as a hallow-like laugh emerged from his mouth. "He blew up the street, alongside all the Muggles in there and while I was _stupidly_ gazing at him," he spat the words out with pure loathing "he cut off his finger, and turned into a rat and climbed down into the sewers." Another hallow laugh escaped his lips as he begrudgingly remembered the next part. "And the Aurors were soon on the scene, accusing _me_ of killing two of my best friends and all the Muggles in the streets, and they didn't even bother to give me a proper trial! Oh, no, it was straight to Azkaban after that, with a life sentence hanging over my head." He turned his blazing, hate-filled eyes towards the girls' and after seeing their shocked face, it felt like reality had finally crashed down on him, and he lowered his head to the ground feeling deeply ashamed that he'd let the girls see him like this.

"I'm sorry," he apologized silently.

…

"What have you got to feel sorry for?" Diana asked softly with tears in her eyes. "You didn't do anything wrong!"

"But I did," Sirius persisted in a broken voice. "I shouldn't have let myself get tricked by Pettigrew! I should have seen through him! I should have been braver and accepted the job of being James' Secret Keeper, because if I had, maybe he would have still been alive right now! If I had-"

"Stop it!" Heidi ordered him. "As far as I'm concerned you're not to blame for that! What I'm interested in now is what happened to Pettigrew?"

"That's right, Peter!" Sirius spoke up as if suddenly reminded of a very important task. "He's here," he whispered to Heidi. "In Hogwarts!"

"What?" Everyone cried in outrage.

"He's here," Sirius repeated. "I saw him in the newspaper that Fudge gave me! He was in that photograph with the Weasleys on the front cover of the Daily Prophet! The rat that the youngest Weasley boy had on his shoulder!"

"Scabbers?" Hermione asked shocked. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm positive!" Black answered. "I've seen Peter's animagus form I was there when he first attain it, I could pick him out of a crowd of a million rats. Especially now, that he's lost a finger on-"

"-his left arm," Hermione finished remembering Skabbers' deficiency.

"Yes, that's it," Sirius nodded vigorously.

"But that…" Hermione shuck her head in disbelief. "How do I know you're not lying?" she challenged.

"We'll find out soon enough," Heidi assured her and held out her hand towards her. "Give me the Marauders Map!" she ordered.

"The Marauder's Map?" Sirius mumbled to himself. "Of course, that's how you found me…"

Hermione blinked once and then an enlightened look passed over her face, as she eagerly reached into her pocked to gab the map and handed it over to Heidi. She suddenly froze and watched horrified as Heidi unfolded the map and swiped her gaze over it, only to stop, glaring in utter shock at one point on the map.

"Did you find him?" Diana asked and scooped the map herself.

Heidi lifted her gaze to look quizzically at Hermione's horror-struck expression. Hermione felt her heart pumping wildly, it was over! She'd seen her, she'd find out about her secret! What was she going to do?

"How-"

The word was barely out of Heidi's mouth, when Diana spoke:

"There!" she was pointing towards the seventh floor corridor, where, right next to the spiral stairway, a dot was moving idly towards the exit. The dot was labeled Peter Pettigrew.

Heidi, Hermione, Filch, Luna, Madam Pomfrey and even Hagrid were blinking stupidly down at the point on the map, the adults had their mouths wide open in shock.

"What are you doing?" Diana chastised them as she scooped the map off the table. "We have to catch him!" she said and pushed pass Hagrid and was out the door faster than you can blink.

"Don't go alone!" Sirius shouted after her but the call fell on death ears. "Someone, go with her!" he screamed at the assembled crowd, and Filch, Madam Pomfrey and Heidi were quick to scramble out the door.

"We'll stay here and guard Black!" Hermione called after them.

Outside the door, Heidi took charge of the operation and instructed them on what to do:

"Madam Pomfrey, I'm going to need you to take this bottle back to Snape's storage room," she said in a hast and handed over the black bottle.

"Right," the nurse nodded, looking agitated and rushed for the dungeons.

"Filch, you and Missis Norris are with me," she said and marched for the stairway, climbing two at a time, with Filch and Missis Norris hot on her tail.

-OOOOOOO-

"So, Granger, what are you doing here?" Draco asked idly as he gazed upon Hermione's sulky face with mirth.

They were currently in the Slytherin common room, the third year boy dormitory to be more precise, and Hermione didn't like it one bit; the colors were way too bland and morose for her taste.

"That's none of your business!" Hermione snapped back looking aggravated.

Draco, being the awful little devil that he was, had decided on locking her in the Slytherin common room, up until Snape came back, so that he could tell on her for stunning Goyle (at the very least he suspected she was the one to stun him, she'd yet to confess to the deed). His two thugs were currently standing guard outside, in the Slytherin common room.

"Oh, but it is, my dear little Mudblood," Hermione boiled at the word, while Draco began explaining patiently, like he was talking to a three year old. "You see, I just so happened to stumble upon you, down here, in the dungeons, on a Quidditch Match day, when your entire house is on the Quidditch field, right after one of my dear old friends, Mister Gregory Goyle, was stun by a Gryffindor fanatic, which led me to the conclusion that you might have been the one to stun him. Of course, I'm not one hundred percent certain of the fact," he said in a suggestive tone that contradicted his words. "But, until our heads of house arrive to clear this misunderstanding, I am obliged, as the model student that I am, to keep you here," he concluded and smiled vindictively at her.

"You have no proof that it was me!" Hermione snapped at him. "And what you're doing is called kidnapping, and is punished by law!"

"Oh, but if I have a just cause to keep you hostage, it won't be seen as such, now will it?" Draco asked cuttingly. "And I have proof," he teasingly lifted up her wand and began idly twirling it between his fingers. "Aperio, have you heard of it?"

Hermione tensed.

"If you're not familiar with the spell, let me tell you what it does. Well, in essence, it reveals the last spell cast by a wand, and nothing more. Not such a useful little spell, but in times like this, it could prove to save someone a few good months worth of detention, not to mention the subtraction of house points and all that… maybe even suspension," Draco finished with glee.

"No!" Hermione screeched shaking her head desperately. "My mom and dad will be-"

"So disappointed in you," Draco cut her off. "And it's gonna be all your fault, my dear little Mudblood. You brought this upon yourself," he nodded contently as he continued twirling her wand in his hands.

_His hands… that's right!_

"You're holding my wand!" Hermione declared proudly, as if this could bring some form of consolation to her.

"So?" Draco asked unfazed. "I was only holding on to it to keep you from stunning me and my friends."

"Yes, but it doesn't change the fact that _you_ were holding it!" Hermione persisted. "And that you could have used it to shoot the stunner and then blame it on me!"

Draco gaped at her openmouthed, as the meaning of her words finally struck him.

"How…incredibly cunning of you Granger," Draco said somewhat delighted by the challenge this was bringing. Did the little Mudblood honestly think she could outsmart him? "But are you really prepared to lie to a teacher? After all, I was under your observation the entire time. You know I didn't use your wand for any such purpose," Draco lifted and inquiring eyebrow at her.

Hermione faltered. Could she really do it? Lie to a teacher to get out of trouble? It went against all her moral standards, but… this was a desperate situation… and Malfoy was only bluffing anyway. Right?

As means of an answer, Hermione turned her back on the blond and said: "You were not under my total observation! You could have framed me!" in a firm voice.

Draco gave the curly-haired girl's turned back a bewildered look. _So she'd go that far, eh? Interesting…_

"I'd still say I was under your observation the entire time," Draco assured her.

"And I'd sustain my point that you weren't!" Hermione persisted.

Draco smiled ruefully and lifted himself from the bed where he had previously been seated and walked slowly towards her. "It would be your word against mine," he said patronizingly. "Your head of house against mine," he stopped right beside the chair she was seated in and leaned closer to whisper in her ear: "And you're not a very good liar Granger!"

Hermione shivered slightly as she felt the blonde's breath land softly on her skin, and her cheeks went bloody red as she swiftly moved her hear away from him and twirled around to give him an angry look. Draco was giving her a cheeky smile, and his eyebrow rose slightly as if to ask her if she was us for the challenge or not. Hermione fumed. The little prick was trying to intimidate her into backing down, but it was so not going to work! She rose to her feet and glared him down defiantly.

"You know, you're right," she began trying to take him off guar. "It _is_ your word against mine, and guess what? My word is better!" She smiled cheekily up in his face.

For the third time that day, Draco was left astounded by the Granger girl. He couldn't believe that the little Mudblood would be able to challenge him so blatantly, and at his own game too! This was getting fun!

"Not just my word," Draco corrected her, as a mischievous glee flashed through his eyes. "Crabbe and Goyle's as well. Remember, one of them is the victim!"

Hermione was really reaching the end of her boiling point. Why couldn't this little devil just give up? "Like anyone would care what your two little gorilla-heads have to say!" she snapped.

Draco's glee faded slightly at the blatant Gryffindor response. "Well, we'll find out soon enough now won't we!" he snapped in a clod tone and turned his back on her. Hermione was slightly shocked by his sudden change of demeanor, but didn't have time to determine what brought it on since Draco's next words really had her heart pumping. "Its bean almost an hour since I brought you here, that stupid match can't last much longer in this weather!"

Hermione panicked. An hour? Had it really been that long? She had to get out of her! There was another place she was supposed to be in! She didn't have time for Draco and his silly little power plays! But, how? How could she get out of here? Draco had her wand, and her cloak, and Crabbe and Goyle were guarding the Slytherin common room outside. Lucky she'd been quick enough to hide the Marauder's Map or Heidi would have killed her.

Draco still had his back turned towards her, lost in his own thought. Maybe she could hit him over the head with the chair and make a run for it? No, she couldn't lift the chair. _Couldn't lift the chair?_ Hermione nearly laughed at herself for even thinking such a though in the first place. She couldn't believe she had sunk so low as to consider bodily harm as the only optimal way of getting out of this situation. But what else could she do? She couldn't wait for Snape to return, that was for sure. The greasy git would never let her hear the end of it. He'd suspend her for sure! And if anything went wrong with the truth serum, the greasy git would surely bring the whole thing down on her head! And she'd _have_ to take the fall for her friends! But what if she could avoid that? Hermione had no clue from what twisted part of her brain the following idea came around, but she felt desperate enough to go with it.

"D-Draco?" a soft stuttering brought the Malfoy heir out of his reverie, which ironically was about curly-haired Gryffindor girl standing right behind him. The alluring way that single words was uttered, assured Hermione she had the boy's full attention, and when he turned to fully face her, he felt his breath caught in his throat. Just the way she was standing there, with that incredibly vulnerable expression, her cheeks flushed red, and her lips slightly parted. She took a steady breath and slowly began making her way towards him on shaky legs.

Draco was dumbstruck, he didn't know what to say, let alone move a muscle, so he sat there waiting for her to reach him, for her to stop right in front of him, for those russet orbs to land on his gray ones, for her flush to deepen as he felt himself swallowing hard. Was she going to…? Or, did it even matter, as he slowly felt his head tilting to the side and leaning gently forward.

Hermione's face brightened even further (if that was even possible), when she saw Draco's face slowly approaching hers. He was so close! She could literary feel his breathing tickle her skin. What was she going to do? Her body had stopped frozen solid in place. And his lips were so close to hers. No! She didn't come here for this! What did she come here fore? Oh…

Hermione's head shifted to the side, making Draco's lips land softly on her cheek. She felt her skin burning and suddenly spluttered out a gasped "I'm sorry!" and dug her knee into his shine.

The effect was instantaneous, as Draco yelped in agony and fell on the floor, clutching his shine. Hermione looked horror struck.

"I am so sorry!" she apologized pitifully as she hastily picked up her wand, from where it had fallen on the floor, and pulled out her cloak from his pocket, while chanting again and again: "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Granger you-" Draco muttered in a faint, pain-filled voice and closed his eyes in agony rocking on the floor.

Hermione hastily put on her cloak, while still chanting the sorry song and quickly opened the door to the third year boys' room and, faster then she thought possible, stunned both Crabbe and Goyle, and made a speedy getaway for the entrance to the Slytherin common room.

She stopped to draw her breath, and nearly had a heart attack as she saw Madam Pomfrey rush into Snape's storage room and climb a latter. She wasn't about to stick around much longer for any of this, so she quickly pulled out the small round medallion shaped like an hour glass that Professor McGonagall had given her, and gave it a turn, and, just like that, she was gone.

-OOOOOOO-

"He's ditched us again, that little rodent's on the ground floor!" Diana boomed and hurried pass her sister and Filch with Missis Norris at her side.

"Bullocks!" Heidi swore. "How hard can it be to catch a rodent!"

"Very," Filch said looking very much out of breath.

"You should catch your breath mister Filch, and stand guard in case Pettigrew decides to come back," Heidi advised, and Filch nodded mutely in understanding, while leaning tiredly against the stoned wall.

Heidi then proceeded to dash after Diana, hoping that she might have caught him before he exited the castle grounds and became unreachable.

Frankly, she wasn't expecting it, the little pest giving them the slip like he did. He was a rat, sure, but managing to dodge, her, Diana, Filch and Missis Norris, in one go? And that rat was one hell of a runner! After he'd ditched them on the fifth floor, he'd ran straight for the hills, and managed to make fools of them all till the first floor, where Filch was currently on guard.

Heidi finally managed to arrive on the ground floor, and found that, to her greatest dismay, the Great Double Doors were wide open. No way the rodent was still in the castle, so Heidi dashed for the outside as fast as she could, and came face to face with the most horrifying sight she'd ever seen: Her sister, Diana, on the ground, looking paler then death and flanked by a hoard of cloaked black figures. Missis Norris was hissing angrily at them and trying to chase them off, but she herself retreated once one got close enough.

"Get away from her!" Heidi shrieked and ran up to her sister, but one of the cloaked figures swiftly cut her path. It stopped but an inch from her, the air around had suddenly grown ice cold and she felt her blood chill to the bone, holding her in place. She watched, almost as if in a trance as the cloaked figure, slowly lowered its head, and she was suddenly overwhelmed by a moment of déjà vu. That time, two years ago, in the Forbidden Forest with Voldemort, it even looked a little like him…

"_Heidi_," he was hissing. Not the figure, it didn't have a mouth, but why was she hearing _him_. And a scream. "Not my babies! Please!" A woman… a voice she'd never heard before… And the figure was coming closer, she felt so incredibly drawn to it, but the screams only echoed louder. But this cloaked figure was not Voldemort! This wasn't how he made her feel, this was…fear…she was scared… and it was coming closer…

Something white and misty covered her eyes, replacing the absolute darkness that once was there. She felt the pull lessened, and she was suddenly freefalling to the ground. Almost like in slow-motion, she saw Mister Filch run out of the castle doors, and a bird, a misty white bird flying high into the sky, which sang the wondrous of songs… and then nothing. All was black again.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN**: Forgot to mention, in the last chapter: I based this whole development on the fact that Missis Longbottom talked Petunia and Vernon into telling the girls about Black over the summer. Heidi lied to McGonagall back in chapter 7. Just wanted to have that cleared out since it might have confused some of you.

**Chapter 10: At the Hospital Wing**

"Hi!" a shrilled voice mumbled from above. It sounded strangely familiar.

"Oh! Weasley, was it?" Someone asked. This voice too, sounded vaguely familiar, even more so than the last.

"You…you remembered my name?" The first voice asked bewildered, and yet, extremely pleased.

"Well, you are a fellow Quidditch player," the second voice pointed out. It was manlier than the girlish voice from before, and it definitely rang a bell. But where had she heard it?

Her conscience was slowly returning, and the two voices were getting annoying. Couldn't they just let her sleep a little longer?

"Right…Am, well, I just wanted to say… th-thank you! Thank you for catching me!" The last part was spoken in a shrilled high-pitched voice, which made Heidi's ears ring, and caused a soft moan to escape her.

"Don't mention it," the boy's voice responded quickly, and then called: "Madam Pomfrey! I think Heidi's coming through!"

"I'll be right there!" The unmistakable voice of the nurse called, and in the next moment, Heidi felt a hand gently land on her forehead, and when she sluggishly opened her eyes, she came face-to-face with the worried figure of Madam Pomfrey hovering over her.

"How are you feeling dear?" The nurse asked kindly.

"Horrible!" Heidi whined as a sharp pain suddenly struck her dizzy.

So she was in the hospital wing? How did that happen?

And then it all came back, her mind speeding through the incident that got her there. Sirius Black…Peter Pettigrew…Hermione… the cloaked figure…and… what was that white misty thing?

"What was that black cloaked thing?" Heidi found herself asking instead, her eyes squinting as she massaged her aching temple.

"A Dementor," Hermione's voice answered. "You two were attacked by Dementors."

"Two…?" Heidi asked still very much confused. And then she remembered about her sister…

"Where's Diana?" she asked in desperation as she jumped out of bed, startling the nurse and Diggory. "Where's my sister?"

"Over here!" A week voice from her left called, and Heidi turned her head to see her usually energetic sister, lying in the bead to her left, looking as white as a ghost, and wearing a dishearten expression on her face. Her features sifted into something resembling a half-hearted smile, and Heidi, overcome with relief, felt suddenly light-headed, and she was sure she would have fallen flat on her face, had Diggory not reached out and caught her.

"You shouldn't excite yourself Miss Potter!" Madam Pomfrey chided. "You and your sister need a lot of rest, to recover from the exposure to the Dementors!" the nurse swiftly made her way to her side and helped Diggory guide Heidi back to bed.

"If you wouldn't mind leaving, my patients need to rest," Madam Pomfrey addressed the people in the room, and Heidi turned her head around to note that between her bed and that of her sister's there were a crowd full of people huddled around: Hermione, Neville, Luna, Hagrid, Fluffy, Filch, with Missis Norris perched on top of her sister's bed, and Fang sitting quietly on the foot of her bed. On her right, there was, as well an arsenal of people assembled: Cedric Diggory with Ginny, Ron, Fred and George Weasley. Angelina, Alicia, and Wood, were sitting a few strides across them.

_What the hell is going on here?_ Heidi thought worried. _Why are all these people here?_

"You're right!" Hermione was quick to agree with the nurse, and motioned at the others to take their leave. "We'll let you two rest for the night."

Heidi nodded mutely and stared silently as Hagrid and his group, alongside the Weasley brothers and the Gryffindor Quidditch team exited the room after wishing the two girls to get well.

"I hope you have a speedy recovery," Diggory said, and leaned down to give Heidi a peach on the cheek, before he too, made a quick getaway.

After everyone else had departed, Heidi turned to give Madam Pomfrey a quizzed look.

"What happened?" she asked the nurse.

"Apparently the Quidditch match was interrupted due to the arrival of the Dementors, who barged onto the Quidditch pitch uninvited," the nurse explained. "The Headmaster chased them off the field, and the creatures made their way to the Hogwarts' double doors, where they stumbled across you two. The Headmaster was furious, as were the three who represented the International Quidditch teams, and everyone else for the matter."

"As am I!" said Diana grumpily.

"I'm right beside you," Heidi agreed. "I can't believe those things would come here and attack students! The Headmaster did take some actions against this right?" Heidi asked hopefully.

"Yes, though it's not much," Madam Pomfrey said in a reproachful tone. "Because even before, those things were only limited to guarding the areas that delimitated the grounds, and those things didn't listed. I doubt any threats the Headmaster might have thrown can do him any good since Fudge refused to dismiss them."

"Fudge was here?" Heidi asked intrigued.

"Yes," the nurse nodded. "Since Minerva, Hagrid and Dumbledore petitioned him for the Dementor's immediate removal, or relocation, but the Minister refused to budge, insisting that they're doing more good than harm."

"That's a load of bull!" Diana spluttered looking peeved. "Black is no way near as dangerous as those things, and Pettigrew is even less of a threat!"

"That's right! What happened with Black and Pettigrew?" Heidi asked suddenly remembering why those wretched things were here in the first place. "What did the others decided to do?"

"Miss Granger decided that it would be best to leave Black up to Hagrid," Madam Pomfrey responded. "Hagrid decided that he wants to talk in length with Black, and get the full story out of him, since he's the only one of us that still has doubts regarding his innocence." Heidi's expression suddenly turned guarded and she looked ready to jump out of bed again, but Madam Pomfrey pushed her back down while saying: "But he settled on not telling Dumbledore unless we all agree to it! He's going to drop by tomorrow so that we can finish our talk."

Heidi looked relieved and sunk back down in her bed while closing her eyes.

"Can I get a pain relieve potion?" she asked the nurse. "My head is killing me!"

"Of course dear," the nurse nodded and quickly made her way to her office.

"Diggory saved Ginny from the Dementors," Diana said, suddenly startling Heidi, who turned to give her a confused look.

"What?" the brunet asked, not sure if she'd understood or not.

"I woke up a little earlier than you, and saw Ginny being treated by Madam Pomfrey," Diana told her looking anything but pleased. "Apparently she'd only gotten a little dizzy and lost her balance. She fell of her broom, but Diggory caught her before she could get too close to the Dementors, so she was only a little shaken when I saw here; a little bit more than when she was on the train. She came over to thank him as soon as Madam Pomfrey was done with her. And then you woke up…"

"So, that was who I heard right before I cam through…" Heidi mumbled remembering the conversation that had woken her. The brunet kept her silence up until Madam Pomfrey returned with the potion, unaware of how exactly she should feel about this new development.

"What's gotten you so downcast?" Madam Pomfrey asked as she handed the brunet the vial of pain-relieve potion.

"Nothing," Heidi said, shaking her head slightly as she drowned the whole bottle. "My medicine?" she asked the nurse.

"You'll have to wait two to three hours before taking it," the nurse told her. "It's not safe to dose you up with more than one potion at a time," she chided, giving her a displeased look.

"Alright," Heidi nodded.

"What medicine?" asked a baffled Diana.

"For my anemia," Heidi clarified and Madam Pomfrey nodded curtly.

Diana nodded, and after giving her sister a worried glance, she decided to turn in for the night, since she was feeling exhausted.

-OOOOOOO-

Heidi was exhausted as well, but she refused to close her eyes and rest, for fear of what she'd see at the other side of her eyelashes. Frankly, since she'd been hooked on the dang potion she'd never once gone to sleep without it, and she wasn't confident that she'd be able to either.

She was scared of seeing him. Scared of seeing Voldemort, scared of the overwhelming confidence that he seemed to emanate, or that twisted little brain of his which had the ability to make her own judgment seem mediocre in comparison. She was scared of loosing control over herself, over her own thoughts, scared of loosing her individuality, because he made everything seem so simple and alluring, yet twisted and wrong. She wasn't going to loose to him! And she wasn't going to loose to sleep either! She'd stay awake until Madam Pomfrey arrived with the sleeping potion!

"And here I was thinking you rather liked the mental stimulation," a serpentine voice purred seductively in her ear.

Heidi froze, feeling her heart stop in place as a cold shiver ran down her spine.

"Breath," the voice commanded softly, prompting Heidi's heart to start beating fast against her rib cage.

"How…?" was the only word she could muster before she realized the answer to her own question. She'd fallen asleep! _Ah, hell no!_

"I think you know the answer to that one," the voice replied teasingly, and suddenly, the owner of the voice came into view with his loathsome smirk in place and ruby-red eyes sparkling with mirth. "Missed me?" he asked cheekily.

"Hell no!" Heidi was quick to answer, even as she felt her hear skip a beat or two at the sight of his handsome visage. _Wait, what?_ Heidi furiously shuck her head, trying to clear that thought from her mind, while squeezing her eyes shut, hoping that, maybe, if she'd ignore him, he'd go away.

"Again with this game?" the teen asked sounding displeased. He leaned back down again and whispered tauntingly in her ear. "It didn't work last time. What makes you think it will work now?"

Heidi flushed as she felt his warm breath tickling the soft skin of her neck, and snapped her eyes open with a bang, while jumping out of bed and fixing the teen with an icy glare.

"Ouch! Such a hate-full look just for little old me? I do believe I've done nothing to warrant such odium," he said while giving the best impression of a wounded puppy, which Heidi didn't buy one bit.

"Yes you have!" she accused. "You're interrupting my sleep!"

"Really?" the teen asked while lifting an inquisitive eyebrow. He swung his legs over the bed and rose to his feet lazily. "I was under the impression that you might need my advice."

Heidi stared a moment dumbfound at the teen, before she erupted into fits of laughter. "_I_ need _your_ advice?" she asked sarcastically. "Why the hell would I need your advice? You're the most evil, loathsome little-"

"Bastard, who also happens to be the only part of your mind that can think," the teen finished for her.

"I can think for myself! I don't need your help!" Heidi snapped feeling offended.

"Really? Then are you telling me that you're happy with the half-baked plan you came up with for catching Black?" the teen asked callously while fixing here with a disappointed look.

Heidi stared, her mind suddenly going blank, unable to think of a coherent comeback to that statement. "It still worked," she finally defended meekly.

"Yes, thanks to dumb luck!" the teen snapped still looking displeased. "So _many_ loopholes, as your dear friend Miss Granger stated," he shuck his head. "And speaking of Miss Granger, can you honestly tell me that you've not found her behavior in the last couple of months to be rather odd? Or are you telling me that one slipped your radar, just like that fact that Lupin failed to attend class after the full moon? And poor Snape, he gave you such an obvious hint, and yet you failed to realize it!"

"I did not fail to realize it! But you can't exactly expect me to draw conclusions so easily! I was only waiting to see if Lupin failed to attend another class next month!" Heidi snapped back at him.

"Hmm, well, at least your brain is not dead yet," Voldemort said, that creepy smile of his suddenly coming back in place. Heidi scowled at him.

"I'm not stupid!"

The teenaged Dark Lord sluggishly made his way around the bed, while give her one of his trademark taunt-looks. "I never said you were," he purred sublimely and leaned forward, capturing her wrist in his grip. In one swift motion, he'd pinned her against the wall and his slight muscular frame, burying his head between her shoulder blades and placing a soft kiss at the hem of her neck.

Heidi shivered slightly and panicked as she felt her heart beat wildly against her ribcage, and a warm, tingling sensation envelop her lower abdomen. But, despite the fact that she wanted to push him away, she found that all her strengths had forsaken her, and her arms were resting uselessly by her side instead.

"Then, tell me," the teen began softly whispering in her ear. "Love," that sole word triggered a torrent of messy feeling and unnamed emotions in Heidi that she was not willing to admit having, not ever! "What do you think of Black's little trial? Do you think he's telling the truth?" Voldemort asked curiously.

"Y…yes, I think he's telling the truth," Heidi managed to respond in a raspy voice, while shaking her head slightly and trying to regain control of her body. It was all in vein, she'd know. Ever since that Bogart incident she'd know how much she'd missed him. The feel of those lips on her skin, the pleasant shiver that ran down her spine as his hands traced soft circles on her back, that lean chest pressed firmly up against her, and all the messed up feeling that came with them; she was starting to feel lightheaded.

Voldemort placed a soft kiss on her neck, and lazily turned her previous words against her: "Is that the conclusion that you've come to after extensive research and observation, or is that merely wishful thinking on your part? There might not be any love loss between you and your biological parents, but that doesn't change the fact that you're curious to know more about them." He leaned in closer to whisper in her ear. "Are you sure that curiosity of yours isn't blinding you to the truth?"

"It's not!" Heidi cried out desperately while pushing the teen away from her. "It's impossible to lie while under the influence of Veritaserum, damn it! And you most definitely are not the _only part of my brain that can think_!" she accused, pinning the Dark Lord with a hard glare. "If anything you only make me question my own judgment! And I've never been wrong before!"

"Quite presumptuous of you," Voldemort chides and shuck his head disappointedly. "To think that you've never been wrong… Then why did Pettigrew manage to elude you for so long? Or, why didn't you figure out the fact that Sirius Black was Fluffy sooner? If anything, the fact that you managed to get conned so easily should serve as a clear warning that you're not at all as omniscient as you so obnoxiously presume you are."

"Stop it!" Heidi snapped and balled her hands into fists. She was breathing erratically and gritting her teeth, a massive migraine had overtaken her and she was sure she'd fall off her feet at any given moment. But she never did. In fact, she felt quite secure with her back pressed firmly against the wall.

"Shhh," someone whispered in her ear. "You should go to sleep now." A hand was slowly tracing her scar, and she felt the pain slowly subside into nothingness.

"Miss Potter?" a soft voice whispered in her ear, causing the brunet to jump out of her skin. Heidi nearly fainted from shock and embarrassment when she saw Madam Pomfrey's face so close to hers. She shrinked back, and the nurse had the decency to pull out of her personal space.

"I'm sorry for startling you, but I couldn't be too loud else I would have risked waking your sister," the nurse pointed at Diana who was sleeping soundly in the next bed. "I brought your potion," the nurse held out a vial of crystal clean liquid.

Heidi looked dumbfounded at the bottle, for a moment her mind went completely blank, then she remembered about her potion addiction, and what had brought it on in the first place. She suddenly felt very sick.

She slowly held out her hand and took the vial of potion from the nurse's outstretched one.

"Are you feeling alright Miss Potter?" Madam Pomfrey asked noting her pale complexion.

"Nothing worse that the usual," said a disgruntled Heidi.

Madam Pomfrey nodded, but still took out her wand and dragged it over her form for good measure.

"Miss Potter, do you make a habit of sleeping with your jewelry on?" the nurse asked, and pointed at Heidi's neck, where the gold chain, (which she'd received in her first year) lay exposed.

Heidi looked slightly confused. "No, I don't think so…" she tried recalling if she'd taken it off the previous night, and to her surprise, she found out she didn't. In fact, if she were perfectly honest with herself, she couldn't recall ever taking it off after that night when she first put it on. How odd…

"If you wouldn't mind taking it off then," Madam Pomfrey advised. "It's not healthy to sleep with jewelry on. You do know that, don't you?"

"Yes, of course," Heidi nodded and slowly reached around her neck to undo the chain. She pulled it off, and Madam Pomfrey opened the door to the drawer behind her bed, where the brunet gingerly placed the mysterious golden locket. As soon as the piece of jewelry dropped from her hand, she suddenly felt like a heavy weight had been lifted from her shoulders, and her head felt much lighter then before.

It was a weird sensation. One she didn't get the chance to enjoy for long, as Madam Pomfrey prompted her into taking the medicine.

"Good night," she said and rested her head on the pillow as she felt her eyelashes getting heavy.

-OOOOOOO-

Madam Pomfrey decided to keep the girls in the hospital wing for the rest of the weekend, and the twins didn't look so pleased.

Diana whined and cried, and kept swearing up and down that she was fine, while Heidi only asked that Madam Pomfrey get her a book out of the restricted section and promised she'd stay put.

"Why do you need this book from the restricted section?" The nurse asked giving the name of the book a hard glare.

"I want to make sure that there's no way Black could have gotten pas the effects of the Veritaserum potion and lied to us," Heidi answered.

"Oh, come on sis, you don't seriously believe that!" Diana chided while giving her sister a peeved look. Heidi wasn't so pleased with herself for falling for Voldemort's challenge either, but she kept telling herself that it was better to be safe than sorry as her hand slowly traced the form of the locket around her neck.

"Well, unfortunately, there are ways to bypass the effects of Veritaserum," said the nurse. Diana felt her hopes suddenly crash down, because she actually liked Black (or at the very least Fluffy) and the thought of him lying to her was painful, while Heidi gripped the locket around her neck in a tight fist and said:

"But?" feeling that the nurse was not done talking.

"But, Veritaserum is an extremely powerful truth potion," Madam Pomfrey told her. "In fact, it's the most powerful in the world, and the methods of defending against such potion are extremely hard to come by, expensive and time consuming. For example, one method would be a counter-potion, which he would have had to administrate a few minutes before Veritaserum was, and given the fact that he was unconscious for more than ten minutes since the interrogation began, I'd say that one is extremely unlikely. Another way to get pass Veritaserum would be by performing a binding ritual which sealed that secret away. However, this does not permit you to lie under Veritaserum, it in fact does not allow you to mention the secret even to people who know about it, it actually kills the bound person if he even intents to speak of the secret. Black would have died before he'd have uttered a single word. And…"

"And," the girls pressed looking expectant at the nurse.

"There's the Unbreakable Vow and the Binding Contract, which work in similar ways to the Binding Ritual. Either way, only the counter-potion would have permitted Black to lie under the influence of Veritaserum, anything else would have killed him."

"Well, since he's not dead, that means he didn't lie!" Diana declared happily while Heidi still didn't look convinced, but decided to drop the subject for now.

Madam Pomfrey mentally sighed when she saw the brunet giving up. Frankly, Veritaserum, as powerful as it might be, was not as reliable a potion as the girls thought it was. There was a reason why the Wizengamot refused to take a testimony under Veritaserum as proof of someone's innocence or otherwise, because, it was so easy to fight of, that the majority of the jury were beyond critical of using it in a court room. Something that any proficient Occlumency user, or mentally instable patient, could get pass was not considered reliable evidence. But the girls needn't worry about such petty matters, after all, she and Hagrid had made sure to demand an Unbreakable Vow from Black last night that prohibited him from harming the girls, or any other students willingly (he'd managed to dodge the unwilling part by saying that he'd already hurt them unwillingly by bringing the Dementors here. _Cocky bastard_!).

Hermione and Neville swooped into the hospital wing a few minutes later, and Neville spent a good fifteen minutes chastising the girls for not telling him about the plan.

"We didn't want to distract you with things we already had under control," explained Diana. "You wanted to be there for Ginny and support her on her first match, so we-"

"I might like Ginny, but that doesn't change the fact that you're my friends!" Neville cut her off, still looking peeved. "Next time you do something as insane as this, you better tell me! And not after the whole bloody thing is over!"

"Okey-dokey commander," Diana nodded and grinned expectantly at the boy as she asked: "So, how did things go with Ginny?"

Neville flushed and lowered his eyes to the ground as he muttered under his breath: "She kissed me on the cheek." The girls had to squint to hear the muttering, but after Hermione told them what had happened, the twins beamed at him and congratulated the boy on his achievement.

"See! And you wanted to give up that for a lousy goose chase with us?" Diana chided looking disappointed. "You would have missed one hell of an opportunity there, mister grouchy!"

"I already missed one hell of an opportunity to be there for my friends!" Neville said looking downcast.

"Neville, stop blaming yourself!" Heidi reprimanded. "We were the ones who decided to not have you tag along. You shouldn't feel guilty for it! Beside, we're very happy with the progress you've made with Ginny, and we're willing to forgive you for not being there this time."

"One hell of a progress I've made," Neville said, lowering his eyes to the ground. "Diggory's made more progress than me, and he's not even trying. He saved Ginny from the Dementors, I reckon you heard," the blond said while giving Heidi a cautious look.

Heidi nodded, trying to look as nonplused as she could. "You know Cedric's not interested, right?"

"Doesn't change the fact that she's interested," Neville muttered and lowered his eyes to the ground once more.

A heavy silence fell on the quartet. Hermione was squirming silently in her seat on the foot of Heidi's bed, while Diana, Neville and Heidi were lost in their own thoughts. The curly-haired was thinking about topics she could use to distract her friends' attention from the grim subject, but she was too afraid to mention any of them, less she risked ending up on Heidi's radar, and she was scared of the inevitable confrontation about the Marauder's Map incident. So she waited patiently for one of her friends to break the awkward silence, but none of them would budge, and when it looked like Hermione had had enough, and was about to speak up herself, that's when the heavens answered her call for a distraction, as Luna Lovegood, Rubeus Hagrid and Fluffy entered the hospital wing.

"Hello," Luna greeted. "I hope we're not interrupting?"

"Not at all!" Hermione was quick to reply. "Do please come in!"

Hagrid told the kids that he'd decided to keep Sirius Black under his care and not tell Dumbledore unless the girls decided to do so. Heidi and Diana thanked him for being so understanding, and Luna promised as well that she'd not reveal Fluffy's secret to anyone. Filch, who came to visit the girls a few hours later, reluctantly told them he'd keep quiet as well.

Around lunch time, Heidi and Diana shooed Hermione and Neville of to lunch so that they could eat with their crushes. Diana was a little reluctant with letting Hermione go, but the curly-haired dashed out the door before she could protest. Around lunch time was when Diggory came to the hospital wing to visit Heidi, and the brunet pretended to be asleep and told the nurse to send him on his way.

"Why are you giving the poor boy the silent treatment for?" the nurse asked curiously.

"He deserves it," Diana said and turned her back on them and pretended to sleep.

"Deserves what? What's he done?" The nurse asked still looking baffled.

"He's been disqualified from the tryouts, right?" Heidi asked the nurse.

A spark of understanding crossed over Madam Pomfrey's face as she slowly shuck her head. "The Quidditch team representatives have chastised him for his actions, but no, he has not been eliminated as a possible candidate. But he did an admirable thing by saving that girl!" the nurse told her firmly.

"You're not supposed to take your eyes of the spoils and save the enemy at the cost of your teams' match!" Heidi said sharply and refused to comment any further.

Madam Pomfrey shot the girl a displeased look, and only said: "You wouldn't have reacted this way if it had been you he'd've caught," before heading back to her office.

Heidi agreed wholeheartedly with Madam Pomfrey. Things would have gone differently if she would have been the one playing in the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff. For one, she wouldn't have fallen off her broom! But wishful thinking didn't change the fact that she hadn't been the one playing Seeker for her teams, or the fact that she hadn't been the one Cedric had rescued from the Dementors. Ironically speaking, she herself had been attacked by Dementors, and Diggory hadn't rushed to her rescue because he was too busy catching Ginny. _Damn him for being such a nice guy!_ And Speaking of Dementors. Heidi had still not figured out what that white smoky thing that saved her and her sister was. She'd have to check the library for it.

-OOOOOOO-

Heidi chose to ignore Diggory's visit the next day as well, and her sister Diana settled down and accepted her faith of being in the hospital wing once Hermione brought her a small black box on her next visit, which intrigued Heidi somewhat. There was something awfully familiar about that box, but she couldn't quite place the feeling. Yet, Heidi decided on not pestering Diana about the origins of the box, since her dear sister had began to take all her concerns as insults as of late, that Heidi had deemed it best not to goad her.

But it felt so weird, seeing Diana write her own essays (and on time), study by herself and get good grades in something other than Charms or Defense, that Heidi was finding it a little hard to get accustomed to. The weirdest part was, that whenever they were graced by the miracle of seeing the red-haired reading, it was always a book on Medicine or Healing Magic, something which worried Heidi quite a lot, since, if Diana ever decided to research the actual effects of anemia, she'd instantly know that Heidi's sickness was not in any way related to it.

"It's Sunday," Heidi stated, as if this was supposed to mean something to the other inhabitant of the room.

"So?" Diana asked not bothering to take her nose out of _A Students Guide to becoming a Mediwitch_.

"You're reading!" Heidi pointed out bewildered. "You never read on Sunday! _I_ never read on Sunday!"

Diana finally lowered the book from her face and turn to give her sister one of those peeved looks that the brunet was so accustomed to receiving whenever she brought up the subject of Diana's newly acquired learning spree.

"Why do you always do that?" the red-haired asked in a deceptively quiet voice. "Why do you always have to question my newly acquired academic interests as if that's a miracle you were never expecting of me? Does it bother you that much that I'm finally trying to do things for myself without having to rely on you all the time?"

"Will you stop jumping to conclusions already!" Heidi snapped being more than a little short-fueled due to the massive headache that was threatening to overtake her. "I'm not mad at you for finally taking an interest in your academic duties! What I'm mad about is the fact that I don't know _why_ you've suddenly become so interested in learning! Is it because I offended you somehow, or did someone else put you down, or is it something else entirely? I can't understand this behavior of yours! Because you're not acting like my sister would anymore, and it's scaring me!" Heidi finally shouted out.

The truth was, the brunet had just now realized herself that Diana's recent behavior had bothered her that much. The red-haired had been slowly drifting away from her ever since first year, since she'd started hanging around those Gryffindor girls that both she and Hermione didn't like. And come second year, they were even more divided, thanks to Neville's addition to the team. Sure they were a team, but it usually felt like they were split up into her and Hermione, the two know-it-alls and Diana and Neville, the less-thought more-action part of the team. And third year was proving to be a big disaster as far as their union as a team went. It felt like everyone was chasing after something else, and it always felt like they were only together because they've gotten accustomed of being that way.

"Like you're one to talk!" Diana scoffed at the brunet. "You're the one who started this whole hush-hush charade and deemed me unworthy of your trust!"

"I can't believe what I'm hearing!" Heidi cried in outrage. "In all my life, I've never deemed anyone worthier of my trust than you! And I thought you knew that!"

"Oh really? Than can you honestly tell me that you trust me more than you do Hermione?" the bitterness and harshness in her sister's voice felt strange and surreal and Heidi was prompted to respond in an evenly bitter tone.

"Of course I-" but she stopped dead in her track. She couldn't find herself capable of finishing that sentence, because her brain had shifted into gear the moment her sister had phrased that question, and she's immediately began counting and weighing all the times she'd confided with her sister, against all the ones she'd confided in Hermione, and she'd found out, to her amazement, that the scales were tilting heavily towards Hermione's direction… after all, Hermione knew about Voldemort, Hermione knew about her addiction to sleeping potions, it was Hermione whom she had first told about Voldemort's kiss, it was Hermione she'd told about her suspicions of Black being Fluffy (Diana had blindly waited for Hagrid in the hall without knowing who the enemy was, what if Black hadn't been a friend and would have attacked her while she was busy looking for another culprit?). Heidi's lips parted as if she was about to say something, but she found herself unable to form any words, let alone finish her sentence.

"Figures," she heard Diana mutter bitterly as the red-haired turned her head away from her.

Heidi turned her head away as well, not knowing what to say. What could she say?_ I'm sorry I lied? I'm sorry I didn't trust you?_ Those words, those simple words felt like superglue which had glued her mouth shut. _Sorry_…that word was too damn heavy for her liking.

Diana silently squirmed in her bed, nervously playing with her hair. She'd felt down right terrible the last time she'd fought with her sister. She had wished to make it all good, and ignore the whole thing altogether, but her sister was a stubborn one, and she had been incredibly hurt when her sister had ignored her attempt at a makeup, so she'd given her the silent treatment in return. But now she felt down right guilty for fighting with her, especially since Heidi had told her that she was only being mean because she was worried about her, and it wasn't like she was being completely honest with her sister either…

*Knock, knock*

Two soft knocks echoing from the door drew the twins' attention, and in the next moment, the small, dreamy face of Luna Lovegood made its way around the hospital door.

"Hello," she greeted idly as the door opened slightly and the girl stepped into the room. Her advancement stopped at the threshold as she took note of the heavy atmosphere in the room. "Or, I could come back later?" the girl suggested clearly not wanting to interrupt.

Nothing about her figure had changed as she posed the small innocent question, not the dreamy expression, nor the indifferent stance. Like a statue, which had been forever frozen in place, she felt neither intrusive nor familiar, like she was part of the scenery itself, but still managed to stand out, somehow. The soft golden hue of the afternoon sun dangled on her face, and illuminated her soft curls and pale skin, making her seem like something divine, out of this world. She wasn't intrusively rushing them for an answer, but merely patiently waiting for their permission to enter into this little world of theirs. It felt so weird, and at the same time, so comforting, that it made Diana smile and Heidi's features soften.

"No, you don't have to go," Heidi told her kindly.

"Yeah, you can come in," Diana said brightly.

"Thank you," Luna responded idly and bounced into the room, taking a seat on the chair between their beds. "Lunch was crowded, so I decided to skip it and head over to see Fluffy. He's as lively as ever."

"I'm glad to hear that," Diana said looking relieved. "And Hagrid? How is he fairing?"

"Better then yesterday," Luna told them. "He refuses to let Fluffy out of his sight dough…"

"That was expected," Heidi said while sighing lightly. "Have you eaten yet?"

"Just one of Hagrid's rock-cookies," Luna said.

"Well, then, why don't you stay and have lunch with us?" Diana asked, and Luna gave a curt nod.

"I'd love to!"

The blond junior kept the girls company up until Hermione and Neville finished lunch and finally barged in still talking about the youngest Weasley brothers, something which displeased both Diana and Heidi, albeit for different reasons. Their two friends never even noticed that something was wrong. It felt so weird. You couldn't even tell they were arguing a while back.

-OOOOOOO-

**AN**: Since a lot of you have posed questions regarding the pairings of this fic, I've decided to take the time and inform you officially what the pairings are (despite having already done so on my profile page):

Heidi will end up with Voldemort, NOT Tom Riddle! I've already explained on my profile page how I consider Tom Riddle and Voldemort to be different beings, so I'm not gonna do so again (and you'll definitely notice what I mean when Voldemort will finally make an appearance in 4th year).

Diana is going to end up with Tom Riddle - the diary one. I'm done with her relationship with Draco, as I've no intention of pairing them up together since their relationship feels too abusive to me (it's funny when Diana sends Draco to the hospital wing, but reverse the roles and you wouldn't like it so much, now would you?). Diana's pairing and the information I've given you this chapter should serve to help you unravel the confusion behind the whole Tom Riddle enigma (if not, wait a few more chapters and you'll have your answers).

Hermione will be paired up with Draco. I'm not giving up any plot points on this one, but the base is already there, and it will keep building.

Neville is paired up with Luna, as I'm sure you're all aware of. Don't worry, I have something planned for his relationship with Ginny as well.

And with that out of the way, I hope you've had a happy Easter!


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: ****Hogsmeade**

The girls were out of the Hospital Wing and back to complaining about classes by the start of next week. And complain they did, since Lupin was back at his post instead of greasy old Snape, and most of the class expressed their displeasure at having been assigned homework on a subject they had yet to study.

"It's not fair, he was only filling in, why should he give us homework?"

"We don't know anything about werewolves —"

"— two rolls of parchment!"

Lupin, of course, assured them that they didn't have to hand over the essays, which disappointed Hermione, who'd dutifully written hers ahead of time.

Heidi took to closely observing Lupin for the rest of the class, noting the dark circles under his eyes, the frail moves and sickly look. The professor had definitely had a couple of rough days, but that still wasn't proof enough that he was a werewolf! She still needed to check and see if he'd pull the same stunt on the next full moon, just to be safe.

After class ended, the quartet slowly began packing their stuff as they patiently waited for all the students to pile out, before heading over to Lupin's desk.

"Professor, we'd like to have a word with you," Hermione stated, drawing Lupin's attention.

"Yes, Miss Granger?" Lupin said, while spinning around to look into their determined faces.

"We'd like to know how you managed to fend off the Dementor on the train," Diana asked boldly. "And, if it were possible for you to teach us how to defend ourselves against them?"

"I'm guessing this has something to do with your latest encounter with them?" Lupin asked cautiously. The quartet remained silent for a long moment, each of them seemingly lost in their own thoughts and unwilling to share them with anyone else. Lupin sadly lowered his eyes to the ground, ready to apologize for his indiscretion, when Heidi began murmuring in a low, hallow voice drawing the occupants of the room's attention to her.

"I've never heard my mother's voice before," she said, a small bitter smile marring her face as her haunted eyes continued staring up into space. "My biological mother, I mean. She had such a pretty voice, yet, the only thing I can remember of her are her screams as she begged Voldemort not to kill me and my sister..." the brunet trailed off, as a thick silence settled across the inhabitants of the room. Diana, Neville and Lupin's eyes were stuck on Heidi, each wearing grim and sorrowful expressions while Hermione's gaze was glued to the floor, her face blank. And suddenly Heidi's eyes lifted from the ground to bore into Lupin's sad ones with a fierce determination. "I don't want them coming near me again! So, if you know a spell that keeps them away, I'm begging you to teach it to me!"

A variety of feelings crossed Lupin's expression as those emerald orbs continued boring unyieldingly into his gray one: Nostalgia, sadness, sorrow, pity, shame and finally, resignation. The old man slowly nodded his head as he murmured a soft: "Alright," as a response.

The kids were out of Lupin's office as soon as he'd picked a date when their Anti-Dementor lessons would begin, and Hermione waited up until they were half way from the Great Hall before she finally snapped.

"That was cheep!" She pulled on Heidi's hand and spun the brunet around to face her. "When you said you had a way of convincing Professor Lupin to help us, I thought it would be something low, but this was beyond what I had come to expect of you!" Hermione made sure to glare at the brunet with as much resentment and displeasure as she could muster. She'd known since first year that her friend wasn't above playing on other peoples' emotions or spinning a situation to her advantage, and she might have forgiven her for most of them, since they didn't cross a certain line. But this time, Hermione felt that her friend had crossed the line, and she was not willing to let her go unscratched. "You had no right to use your _dead_ parents' name like that!"

"Hermione, she wasn't bluffing back then!" Diana snapped looking outraged.

"Like I'd believe she'd waste such a perfect excuse to blackmail Lupin into teaching us a spell we're probably not supposed to know!" Hermione snapped right back at the red-haired. Diana stared in utter shock at the girl, while Neville shock his head disapprovingly at her.

"For fuck's sakes Hermione, how evil do you think I am?" Heidi hissed through gritted teeth. Hermione turned her disapproving look at her old friend, but when her gaze landed on those emerald orbs and they saw the loathing and betrayal in them, which was directed at her, that's when Hermione started having second thought about her reasoning.

"When those Dementors came near me the first thing I heard was _him_, calling my name, like he did when I first saw him in first year," Heidi started recounting while glaring at her old friend as if daring her to dismiss the words she was saying as a lie. "He told me I was alone," her voice took on a hallow, sarcastic tone as her eyes fell on the floor and a bitter smile crossed her lips. "And that no one would save me from him like they couldn't save her." The smile slipped off her face as her gaze became distant and her eyes started watering slightly. "Then the screaming came. I've never heard her voice before, but I _knew_ who she was! I knew because she kept screaming my name, and that of my sister's -" the brunet broke off, crouching down on her knees as her hands rushed to cover her face and for a horrible moment, Hermione was stuck staring at a scene she never thought she'd see in her wildest dreams happening: Heidi, her uptight, stubborn and, sometimes, a little too emotionally detached friend, crying. The brunet was furiously shaking her head as she stubbornly wiped at her eyes and slapped her face a couple of time all the while taking big gasps of air and exhaling slowly as she shrugged Neville's hand from her shoulder.

"I'm sorry!" Hermione was quick to fall to her knees beside her and apologize repeatedly, feeling nothing less than miserable at the moment. This was her fault! She couldn't believe how stupidly dis-considered she'd been. "I am so sorry! I don't know what went through my mind! I honestly didn't mean to-"

Heidi's hands took a firm grip of Hermione's shoulders, and she pulled her forward, bringing her face just inches away from her own.

"Yes, I used my mother's memory to convince Lupin to teach me how to fend off the Dementors," Heidi confessed, something wiled and disturbing flooded her eyes as her lips twitched into a sinister smile. "But I only said it because it was the truth!" her gaze turned to pure loathing as she carried on, her voice growing in intensity with every word that come out of her mouth. "I _hate_ that feeling! I _hate_ felling week! And I will crush anything that makes me feel that way again! Do you understand me?" Heidi hissed in a smooth menacing voice as she roughly dug her nails into her terrified friend's shoulders. Hermione nodded mutely, scared to utter a single word as she cowered before her friend's angry glare.

"Heidi, that's enough!" Diana snapped as she yanked Hermione from Heidi's grip. "You're scaring her! You're scaring me," the red-haired added in a small voice.

"I know the feeling," Neville told Heidi as he crouched down beside her. Hermione and Diana were standing a few strides away, Hermione having still not recovered from her shock. Heidi turned her hate-filled glare on Neville, and while the blond did flinch visibly, he refused to back down.

"When the Dementors… I first saw the Dementors, on the Hogwarts express, and the first think I hear was a scream. I didn't know whose it was, but it belonged to a woman. And there was another one, laughing in the background. I haven't been able to block it out of my mind ever since. They always keep coming back, the two voices; one screaming and the other laughing hysterically, mirthfully, like she was enjoying the sound of the other woman's screams... I don't know when I started associating it with my mom's, or maybe I knew it was hers all along and didn't want to admit it to myself, but I've been trying to block it out, but they never go away. And sometimes they wake me up at night." Neville looked pained as he finished his sentence, his small, glittering eyes landing on Heidi's sad emerald ones. A small smile crept on his lips as he continued: "But then I remember you girls, and Ginny. I remember that I'm not alone, and it helps me sleep better." His hand landed softly on Heidi's shaking one, as his smile widened. "We'll get through this," he said reassuringly. "We'll get through this together."

Heidi nodded mutely as her features softened and her head came to rest against Neville's shoulder. "I'm feeling a little sick," she said, whining like a little brat.

Neville laughed humorously and asked: "Do you want me to drag you to the Great Hall?"

"The Hospital Wing would be better," Heidi murmured softly and closed her eyes.

"The Hospital Wing?" Neville asked concerned.

"Heidi, are you alright?" Diana and Hermione came to stand beside Neville and the red-haired softly placed her hand on her sister's forehead. "She's burning up!" Diana cried worried.

"Let's take her to Madam Pomfrey!" Hermione advised and Neville nodded mutely as he hoisted the brunet up on his back, and the trio hurriedly made their way to the Hospital Wing.

Madam Pomfrey wasn't pleased.

She declared them all a pile of walking disaster and sent the healthier three down to lunch before they fell off their feet due to malnourishment. And when Heidi woke up, she was subjected to another one of the nurse's long rants about her condition.

"Apparently our treatment is working," the nurse began. "Which isn't exactly good news for you miss Potter, since that means that the withdrawal symptoms will start hitting you soon."

"Symptoms?" Heidi asked worriedly. "You mean there'll be more?"

"Yes, you've had it easy up until now, only a few muscle pains here and there, and your eyesight became blurry when you overexert yourself, but that was the easy part. Wait till the anxiety streaks kick in. Add to that a few weeks of swelling, tremors, insomnia and vomiting and you'll be all prepped up for recovery. You're really lucky there's only a week left till winter break so we can say that you caught a slight flue if you aren't feeling up to going to classes by the time school start."

"Am…the anxiety streaks might have already started," Heidi admitted in a small, cautious voice.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Madam Pomfrey asked sharply, staring the girl down.

"Well, I did go all psycho on Hermione today," Heidi admitted, while giving the nurse a wary look. "But it was totally her fault for calling me a liar!" she defended, though it did nothing to placate the already upset nurse.

"And here I was thinking you can make it through the semester without drawing attention to yourself," the nurse sighed in dismay.

"But I can!" Heidi was quick to reassure. "I've taken all my end of term exams and the only things left for this week are just a few classes where Hermione and the others will have my back, and the result for the test! There's nothing major going on this week, it'll slip by unnoticed and I'll be on your head 24/7 come winter's break!" Heidi flashed the nurse a much too confident smile, which didn't help to alleviate Pomfrey's worry one bit.

-OOOOOOO-

It was a horrible week! But Heidi somehow managed to pull through it. Though she honestly thought she might have died and gone to hell when the results to the exams for the end of semester came around. She'd gotten 8 straight Os, but an Exceeds Expectation for Charms and Arithmancy was just intolerable! She was secretly glad that Hermione'd gotten an Acceptable in Divination (which had devastated the poor girl), but then again, the brunet had and unnerving number of 11 straight Os compared to her (which made her top of the class, no questions asked).

Neville and Diana were very much pleased with the fact that they'd ended the semester without failing any subject (though Neville came dangerously close to failing Potions), and were quite pleased with their academic status. Diana had 3 Os in DADA, Charms and Care of MC; 3 Es for Transfiguration, Herbology, Astronomy and 2 As for Potion and History. Neville had 1 O from Herbology, 3 As for Potions, Divination and History of Magic, and 4 Es for Astronomy, Transfiguration, DADA and Charms.

"I still can't believe that I've outscored you in Charms!" Diana giggled excited. One of her life long dreams was to get one over on her too perfect sister (which she loved dearly, but still…). "It must have taken the mother of all misfortunes cursing you to get an E in anything?"

"Diana, you've always outscored us in Charms," Hermione reminded while shooting the red-haired a disapproving look. "You've even outscored me! We might have the same grade in out catalogue sheets, but you've scored 124 points while I only have 104."

"I did?" Diana asked while beaming delighted at her friends and snuggling over to take a closer look at her test results. "Oh my gosh! I _did_ outscore you!"

"Yep, Charms is your subject," Hermione agreed as she flashed her over-excited friend a polite smile, before turning her head to study her other friend who'd yet to give a snarky comeback to her uber-hipped sister. Heidi had a bitter scowl on her face as she continued to gaze at the exam sheet in her hands, probably thinking that if she'd glare hard enough the two Es would be intimidated into turning to Os. It worried Hermione somewhat that Heidi was taking these results so personal. Frankly, if you asked her, the brunet had done remarkably well considering the state she was in; but, at the same time, Hermione couldn't help but think that this was a valuable lesson that Heidi needed to learn. She should really stop being such a sore looser! Though, looking at her own result sheets and seeing the dreadful A among the list of straight Os made Hermione's heart twitch painfully, so she couldn't actually blame her friend for feeling so down; not when she wasn't that much better of herself.

"Girls," Neville called out to them drawing their attention. "I have an announcement to make," the boy said beaming with joy. The three girls stopped in their tracks and looked expectantly at Neville. The boy fumbled on his feet and lowered his eyes to the ground looking extremely embarrassed, but all the while, the proud smile that he'd been wearing all day since they got their results never left his face as he proceeded to tell them that: "Professor Sprout has agreed to take me on as her personal apprentice!" Hermione and Heidi beamed at him while Diana looked very much confused, so Neville tried to explain. "Well, it means that…am…"

"It means," Hermione turned to Diana and patiently began explaining, "that when he finishes Hogwarts aside for his NEWTS for Herbology he'll take an extra tougher exam which will give him a much higher qualification then the rest of us in the subject! It's practically the equivalent of a Muggle's Doctorate Degree! And if he aces it, he'll be qualified to go on and do research in the field, not to mention the fact that he'll get a teaching certificate at the end. Oh, Neville, I'm so proud of you!" Hermione beamed and hugged the boy, who turned red in the matter of seconds.

"Thank you," Neville responded shyly as Heidi hugged him as well. Diana was quick to congratulate him.

"Then how bout we celebrate by going down to Hagrid's and finding a way pass those troublesome Dementors! Neville deserves to be taken on a trip to Hogsmeade!" the two know-it-alls were quick to agree, and Neville couldn't have looked happier. Though, apparently he could, because, in the next moment, Ginny Weasley rounded the corner and flashed the group a wide grin, which made Neville stumble slightly on his feet and flash her a brilliant smile.

"Neville!" she greeted enthusiastically and waved good-spiritedly at the girls. "Could I talk to you for a second?"

The girls hurriedly made a quick getaway.

"Oh, my, I think I forgot to return a book to the library," Hermione said and linked arms with Diana and Heidi.

"Hermione, that is soooo irresponsible of you," Diana chastised.

"Yes, you must return it immediately," Heidi agreed. "We'll tag along to make sure you don't lose yourself in this monstrous castle."

"Or in that monstrous book," Diana added. "We'll see you later Neville!" The three waved and were off sprinting for the Marble stairway.

Neville barely managed to splutter a fable "Yeah, see you," to his departing friends, as his gaze was still glued to Ginny's bright brown eyes, her wide heart-full grin, her cute little nose and flaming red hair-

"Neville!" Ginny suddenly snapped at him, giving him a peculiar look.

"Yes?" Neville asked coming out of his daze.

"You were spacing out," Ginny remarked and raised her brow questioning him silently.

Neville flushed and struggled to find a plausible excuse for his predicament (aside from the obvious).

"Well, I… am… I managed to get my apprenticeship with professor Sprout!" he told her excited.

"You did?" Ginny asked thrilled. "Oh, my god Neville, I'm so proud of you!" and she hugged him. And Neville's heart stopped beating right then and there.

He suddenly felt lighthearted, like he was going to fall off his feet and the only thing sustaining him was Ginny's arms wrapped around his shoulders, her weight pressing firmly against his, and, god how badly he wanted to return the hug. But, unfortunately, before he could snap out of his stupor, she suddenly pulled away, leaving him there, stuck in a moment of missed opportunity with his hands outstretched towards something that was already out of his reach.

Ginny smiled.

"I really hope this works out for you," she said honestly.

"Thank you," Neville responded slightly out-winded as he felt his heart prompted back into motion and his hands landed silently by his side. "I hope Quidditch works out for you. Not because of the money!" he was quick to assure. "But, because…well, it's want you want. Right?"

"Yeah," she nodded her head lightly as her smile wavered somewhat. "Actually, that's what I came to talk to you about. You know the Quidditch match with Hufflepuff was rescheduled?" Neville nodded prompting her to continue. "Well, they've rescheduled it for the first week after winter break's over, and, am… Well, Wood's finally willing to accept me as part of the team."

"He ruddy well should!" Neville said sounding indignant. "After all the spectacular dodges and that brilliant goal, he'd be a fool not to take you serious!"

"Yeah, well, he said I'd make a great Chaser," Ginny said while rolling her eyes. "As if I didn't know that! But the slot for Chasers' already full and I'm the best Seeker they could find, which oddly enough isn't a compliment." She made an annoyed face (which Neville had learned to associate with Wood in the few months he'd spent with her), and then shrugged the matter off.

"But anyway, Wood's gonna be training me till I drop dead from exhaustion in the next couple of weeks, and, well, I'll admit I'm kind of intimidated by that," she flinched suddenly not looking like her usual confident self. "So…I was hoping that…well, that is if you don't mind…_maybe_, you could… well…"

"Yes?" Neville asked curiously.

"Ugh," Ginny gave a frustrated sigh and took a large intake of breath before setting her firry gaze on Neville and speaking: "Could you-" then she changed her mind again and finally spoke in a soft, pleading voice. "Would you come and watch me practice? I mean, not that I'm scared of Wood and stuff." She tried to assure looking anything but confident. "Well, maybe just a little. But-"

"Of course!" Neville said at once. He gently took her hand into his and squeezed it reassuringly. "Even if it's the worse thunderstorm outside, I'll still be in the stands cheering for you at the top of my lungs!"

Ginny's features softened into a smile as her hand closed softly around his and she whispered an honest "Thank you" to the boy.

-OOOOOOO-

On the very last Friday before term, it was announced that there would be another Hogsmeade weekend much to everyone's delight except for the quartet.

"It's not fair!" Diana whined that afternoon as the quartet and Luna were down by Hagrid's Hut and enjoying a, what was until now, pleasant chat with the Giant. "Black is not after us, so they have no legit reason to keep us out of Hogsmeade!"

"That might be so," Hermione agreed wholeheartedly. "But Dumbledore doesn't know that!" she tried to make her stubborn red-haired friend understand for what seemed like the thousand time.

"Who cares what Dumbledore thinks!" the red-haired whined as a chorus response of "I do," came from the assembled crowd. "We can get pass the Dementors without his help if we manage to find some way out of the school by using the Marauders Map!" she exclaimed and looked desperate at the piece of parchment which was neatly spread on Hagrid's wooden floor.

"Ya kno' Diana," Hagrid began as he leaned over slightly from his chair to get a better glimpse at her. "Dumbledor'll understand if you go to him and explain the matter with Black. I'm sure he'll lend a helping hand. Maybe he'll even help yas with tracking down Pettigrew-"

"Forget it Hagrid," Heidi promptly interrupted him. "It's because we saw Pettigrew on the Map that we can be sure Sirius is innocent. Without proof, even if he _does_ believe us, Dumbledore will be powerless to help us. He might even feel obligated to hand Black over to the authorities."

"Heidi has a point there," Sirius said as he morphed back into his human form. "Dumbledore has no reason to trust me."

"I've got no reason ter trust ya!" Hagrid was quick to assert earning himself a glare from Diana and a frustrated sigh from the other members of the quartet. Luna still looked very much unfazed as she continued to chew on one of Hagrid's rock cookies.

"And yet, you still chose to keep me under your wing, safe from the Dementors that are out for my bones. I am very grateful to you," Sirius said honestly.

"I'm only doin' it for the girls' sakes," Hagrid assured.

"You have my thanks nonetheless," Sirius said. Hagrid glared at him once and turned his eyes away, opting to ignore his very existence, something he'd been doing quite a lot lately (mainly, since he'd found out that Fluffy was in fact Sirius Black).

Diana gave Hagrid a disapproving glance and turned towards Black to whisper: "How do you endure that everyday?"

"I usually keep my conversations with him short and to the point," Sirius said. "And if I get lonely, I bark at Fang and the two of us go hunting for trouble. And," Sirius leaned in to whisper conspiratorially in Diana's ear. "There's a secret passageway into Hogsmeade that will lead you right underneath the Dementors' noses."

Diana's head peaked up with interest as a mischievous glee lit her eyes. "Tell me more!" she pressed.

"How bout I take you kids there tomorrow?" Sirius suggested flashing her a shark like grin.

Diana nodded, grinning like a child on Christmas day.

"What are you's two whispering about?" Hagrid called from his seat over at the table, and fixed the two with a suspicious glare.

"Nothing," Sirius and Diana responded in unison and tried to look like two innocent little angels, but managed a scary impersonation of Fred and George when they were cooking up a new prank with dire consequences.

On the way back from Hagrid's hut, Diana informed her sister, Hermione, Neville and Luna of Sirius's promise to help them get into Hogsmeade tomorrow, which delighted the kids.

"What do you say Luna," Diana asked looking expectant at the girl. "What to come with us?"

Luna's head turned lightly towards her, and with the same indifferent smile on her face she said: "I'm not a third year."

"True," Diana nodded. "But we're not allowed to go either."

"I suppose so," Luna nodded and remained silent for a moment.

"Diana, we'll get Luna in a lot of trouble if we get caught," Hermione warned, glaring at them disapprovingly.

"Oh, don't be like that Hermione! It'll be fun!" Neville assured. "There's so much to see in Hogsmead! So many amazing shops, fun houses and urban legends! I hear the Shrieking Shack is quite menacing and The Three Broomsticks have the best butter bear in the world, and Zonkos is filled with amazing things!" he gushed as an excited expression surfaced on his face.

"And maybe we'll manage to build a map of Hogsmeade similar to the Marauders' Map," Heidi whispered beguilingly in the brunet's ear.

"You know that argument's already won me over, it's so unfair of you to rub it in!" Hermione said while giving her friend a disapproving glare.

"Aw! I didn't mean to upset you," Heidi assured as she grabbed a hold of Hermione's arm and gave the brunet a light peak on the cheek.

"You so did," Hermione accused.

"That does sound nice," Luna said monotonously, smiling lightly.

"So, you'll go?" Diana asked.

"Yes. I'd very much like to."

"Wonderful!" Diana squealed as she threw herself at the blond and enveloped her in a bone crushing hug. "I can't wait till tomorrow!" the red-haired said excited.

-OOOOOOO-

Waiting for tomorrow turned out to be a harder task then expected what with the kids being unable to close an eye during the night due to their excitement. The five kids awoke early that morning and made their way down to the Dining Hall around seven sharp. There were only three teachers present and a few Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. Luna sat down with the quartet at the Gryffindor's table and the five began eating slowly.

"So," Diana started speaking as she took a piece of bread and began spreading jam all over it. "B. said that Hagrid will be heading out to Hogsmeade himself around 10."

"Yes," Heidi nodded. "The teachers usually wait an hour till they head out themselves. And it's the last day of term, so we can expect Hogsmeade to be crowded with them."

"We have to be carful that we're not seen," Hermione said.

"It will be difficult for anyone to spot us in the crowd," Luna said.

"Though we are a large group," Neville added.

"You might be," Heidi agreed. "I'm going off to meat Diggory and Hermione's arranged herself a date with Ron," the brunet informed them.

Diana gave her sister a peculiar glance. "I've made up with Diggory?"

"Not yet I haven't," Heidi told them.

"Well, I hope it works out," Diana said. "Which reminds me," the red-haired turned to give her sister a quizzed look. "Why did we sign the forms to spend Christmas here?" The two know-it-alls tensed immediately at the question. "I know that Neville is staying for Ginny, but the rest of us? Why can't we go home like Luna? I mean, it's not like Neville won't benefit from our absence. It would be the perfect excuse to hang out with Ginny all day!" she turned to wink mischievously at Neville, and the poor boy turned redder then an apple.

"It's not like you'd be inconveniencing me either," Neville assured them.

"We're staying for the Hogsmeade Map," Heidi said matter-of-factly.

"Yes," Hermione agreed.

"Minimal amount of teachers, no classes, no exams or homework to worry about," Heidi began listing. "Maybe we can even try sneaking into the Restricted Section and search for some of those books we need for our FCNP project!"

Diana's head shot up at hearing that. "Oh, my god Neville, I'm so sorry, I forgot all about your parents! I'm a horrible friend!"

"No, it's alright!" Neville was quick to assure. "We've all been busy with school, but we'll have enough time to research come winter break."

Luna quirked an eyebrow at the FCNP project, but decided it best not to probe, thinking it was a delicate subject, as Neville was incredibly eager to change the topic.

Despite being among the first at breakfast, they were among the last to leave at half past nine, and the five wasted another hour standing on the stairway with Mister Filch and letting themselves be guided from one place to another up until they saw Hagrid's dot leave the castle grounds.

"That's our cue!" Heidi said.

"Your cue for what?" Filch asked looking suspicious.

"We're going to visit Fluffy!" Diana said excited. Filch looked anything but pleased, so Diana had to waste another ten minutes complaining to him about the injustice of not being able to go to Hogsmeade, and how her godfather was innocent and-

"You can go," Filch finally said resigned. "Go on, bugger off, before I change my mind!"

And the kids were off!

They met Fluffy at the entrance to the Great Hall, and carefully made their way to the third floor corridor while double checking the Map to make sure they wouldn't run into any trouble. Fluffy stopped in front of the statue of the one-eyed witch, and patiently waited for Diana to make her way towards him.

"Is this it?" The red-haired asked while peering curiously at the statue. Fluffy nodded and wagged its tail impatiently. "Okay," Diana gave a light nod of understanding and quickly pulled out her wand, tapped it against the witch's hump and whispered the words Sirius had told her a few minutes ago: "Dissendium_._"

At once, the statue's hump opened wide enough to admit a fairly thin person. The kids shared triumphant grins as Fluffy jumped head first into the hole, followed by Neville, Luna, Diana, Hermione and finally Heidi. The group slid a considerable few feet down before finally landing on cold earth. Fluffy finally changed back into human form.

"Anyone got a light?" Sirius asked and in the next moment, he was hit with five pairs of beaming light coming from the wands of each of the kids.

"Wow," Neville muttered as he gazed enthralled at the narrow passageway which appeared to lead on a few miles.

"Shall we go, then?" Sirius asked as he started to make his way down the tunnel, with Diana following dutifully behind him. The rest of the kids snapped out of their stupor and followed suit.

It took them ages, a few unpleasant turns and a few stumbles on the uneven ground but they finally reached the foot of some worn stone steps. Sirius assured them that it wouldn't be long now, but after the two-hundred step, the kids were beginning to think he was pulling their leg, up until they heard a loud bang and Sirius' moan of pain.

"You alright?" asked Diana as Sirius grabbed a hold of her and stopped her from heading any further.

"Yes, and I'm proud to say we've reached our destination," Sirius announced grinning while massaging his sour head. "You'll have to be carful how you exit, since this passageway leads right underneath Honeydukes, and you don't want to be seen by the owner coming out of his cellar."

"No worries there," Heidi assured. "I've brought the cloak."

"You think all five of us can hide under that?" Diana asked skeptically.

Heidi glared at her. "We'll take it in turns," she informed her sister. "You, Luna and Fluffy can go first. Fluffy will guide you out, and then he'll come back with the cloak. Then it'll be Hermione and Neville's turn and then Fluffy and I will come last."

Diana looked extremely embarrassed as she took the cloak from her sister and pulled it over Luna, Fluffy (who'd regressed back to his dog form) and her own head. The two girls silently opened the trap door and, with the help of Fluffy, made their way out of the cellar, pass the counter and straight out the door of the crowded place. They snuck around the back and waited for the rest of their comrades to make their way out, and after Heidi and Fluffy finally emerged, the kids started giggling excitedly as Fluffy wags its tail merrily.

"We're here!" Neville cheered and Hermione was quick to cover his mouth and try to shush him.

"Yes, we're here," she grinned energized and the kids alongside Fluffy made their way out on the street.

For a full hour, the five did nothing but wonder around, looking amazed at the packed streets, buzzing with noise and excitement as students and adults hurried about, entering what looked like a never-ending assemble of shops which were all cloaked in a healthy dose of fluff, courtesy of the snow which had started pouring down since this morning. The kids felt like they were inside a Christmas card and Diana wondered if the north pool looked something like this.

"The people at the north pool live in igloos," Hermione said. "Though I do think there are a few towns around there as well."

"The place does look like it might be Santa Claus's hometown though," Diana said giggling, and the other kids nodded their agreement. "So, where to?" the red-haired asked.

"Oh no! Ron!" Hermione exclaimed looking worried. "I told him I'd meet him at The Three Broomsticks! Wherever that is…"

Fluffy barked to grab her attention and pointed towards a street that turned left.

"And I said I'd meet Cedric at Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop. We passed by it along the way."

"And why didn't you stop there?" Neville asked.

"Cedric wasn't there yet, and I'm not gonna sit around and wait for him like a lost puppy!" Heidi said huffy indignantly.

"Merlin help the bastard who gets on your bad side sis," Diana said and shuck her head.

"Well, we can drop off Hermione at the Three Broom Sticks, since Fluffy knows the way, and then we can make our way around the town and visit all the shops," Neville suggested.

"And I'll be leaving you here," Heidi said. "We'll regroup at Honeydukes in a couple of hours."

"Sounds good," Diana agreed.

"Is there any place you'd like to go Luna?" Neville asked.

Luna thought about it for a second and finally said: "I'd like to see the owls."

"Then the Post Office it is!" Neville exclaimed, and after waving good bye to Heidi, the four kids, guided by Fluffy, made their way down the road and took a left turn and were out of sight.

"Finally," Heidi thought and ran off down the street at a brisk pace. She was late, but she wasn't quite sure for what. And now that she thought about it, she didn't quite remember talking to Diggoy at all in the last few weeks (she'd been dead set on avoiding him), let alone agreeing to go on a date with him. How odd…

And she suddenly felt dizzy. Her eyes began to feel so heavy, and, despite the flaks of snow which were gently landing on her face she suddenly felt warm and sleepy. She closed her eyes. Would it really upset anyone if she lay here to rest for a couple of minutes?

-OOOOOOO-

The kids dropped off Hermione at the Three Broomsticks, and, as per Luna's request, they retraced their steps back towards Honeydukes, since the Post Office was somewhere down the road.

Hermione was left to impatiently wait for Ron, who, despite having visited Hogsmeade before, and despite having a full three hours head start, had failed to arrive.

_Maybe he decided to visit a shop along the way?_ Hermione thought and checked her watch. It was nearly 12 a clock. He was late. No, actually, _she_ was late! Maybe Ron had grown tired of waiting for her in this blizzard and had gone inside? She peaked through the window of the pub and tried to see if she could spot Ron anywhere inside, but the place was packed, so it was impossible to discern more then a few nearby faces.

"Granger? Is that you?" a familiar voice called out to her, unfortunately for Hermione, it wasn't Ron's voice. It was Draco Malfoy's. She didn't have to turn around and see his face, she _knew _it was him.

"It is you!" Draco jeered delighted as Hermione felt a chill run up her spine, like a Dementor had just snuck up on her. "Well, well, this is a surprise," the blond said. "Especially since, last I've heard, you're not allowed to visit Hogsmeade. Are your little friends hiding somewhere around here as well?"

Hermione panicked, hearing that the little devil knew of her infringement, and decide to deal with this in the stealthiest manner she could think of: Ignore him, turn around and walk away at a brisk pace straight towards the first road that turned out of sight.

For all the good that did her, since Malfoy caught up with her in an instant, slipped his right arm around her shoulder and guided her back towards the center of the street.

"Where do you think you're going in such a hurry?" the blond whispered tauntingly in her ear, making Hermione jump slightly. "You've barely just got here! It'd be a shame to waste the effort you put in to get past those Dementors if you leave now."

"Let go of me!" Hermione cried, and Draco's arm around her neck tightened.

"Calm down! You don't want to attract unwanted attention to yourself, right?" Draco hissed threateningly in her ear. "Oh, look, there's McGonagall!" the blond gleefully pointed out to a group of people which were walking down the streets a few steps away from them.

Hermione's felt like a giant truck had run her over and failed to kill her, so she was left lying there to endure the pain as her life slowly drained away from her. McGonagall was walking down the right side of the road which meant she was in full view of her head of house. The elder witch was immerse in a deep conversation with someone who Hermione recognized as the Minister of Magic, Professor Flitwich and Hagrid of all people, so she probably had failed to notice her, but if she turned her head even for a second, there was no way she'd miss her.

"Do you want me to call them over?" Draco asked cruelly. Hermione didn't answer, her eyes glared at her Head of House, and wildly scanner the place for a quick getaway, until they finally landed on Draco Malfoy's smug face.

"You're really that scared of that woman?" Draco said looking very much amused, but Hermione couldn't quite process what he was saying. Her head kept wandering back and forth from her Head of House to Malfoy's.

"Let me go," Hermione pleaded looking desperate at the Malfoy heir. McGonagall was getting close and she had to leave! She couldn't let herself be seen!

Draco's smile widened. "Merlin Granger, for a Gryffindor you're a real scardy cat aren't you?"

"Malfoy, let me go!" Hermione said again, trying to shake his hand off her shoulder, but the blonde's grip on her tightened.

"Will you relax," Draco said, the smile slipping of his face. But Hermione couldn't relax, because McGonagall had almost reached them, and apparently she'd lost interest in the conversation, since she'd turned her head around and her eyes were scanning the crowd.

"Malfoy, please let me go!" Hermione pleaded and tried to run pass him, but Draco spun her around, so that her back was facing McGonagall and pulled her into his embrace, hiding her head between his shoulder blade.

"Will you relax!" he whispered firmly in her ear. "If you run away now you'll only attract attention to yourself! She'll spot you in an instant!"

Hermione instinctively put her hands around the boy's shoulders and tried to even her breathing, but her breath hitched in her trout as she realized who exactly it was the she was hugging and she was just about to pull way when she heard McGonagall's voice from somewhere right beside her. She choked, burying her head into Draco's shoulders and tightening her hold on him. Her heart beat wildly as she closely listened to the sound of McGonagall's voice fading in the crowd as she complain about Dementors patrolling Hogsmeade after dark, till the woman became lost in the stream of undistinguished voices. She tentatively lifted her head up to see McGonagall and her group enter the Three Broomsticks, and sighed in relief. She was safe.

"I didn't know you were so clingy," Draco whispered breathless in her ear. Hermione turned to face him and immediately, her face flushed red as she saw just how close to the boy she was standing. She tried to pull away, but Draco's grip on her tightened. "Leaving without paying your due? Because that's twice I've spared you from expulsion now and I've yet to receive a reward for my trouble."

Hermione glared at him confused for a while, and then she remembered the time he'd caught her sneaking in the dungeons. "You had nothing on me that time!" Hermione said confidently. "In fact, _I_ was the one who could have accused _you_ of kidnapping," she said firmly.

"Are we forgetting about Goyle?" Malfoy chided, giving her a disapproving look.

"You'd have to prove that one first," Hermione bit back sharply.

"Well, I doubt I have to prove anything this time," Malfoy told her, and Hermione instantly tensed. "Or if I do, I could just drag you to the Three Broomsticks and show you to McGonagall. I'm sure she'll believe me when I tell her that you snuck in Hogsmeade illegally."

Okay, this was a big mess she was in, and Hermione's brain failed to concoct a coherent plan on how to get out of it. Draco had her trapped, he had a firm grip on her hands, McGonagall was nearby, and her wand was in the inner pocked of her coat. This was not looking good for her. And she knew that Malfoy was evil enough to turn her in - Wait…

"Why did you protect me?" Hermione asked labeling the blond with a confused look.

"Excuse me?" Draco asked, seemingly not having understood her.

"Earlier," Hermione explained. "You hid me from McGonagall when you could have just as easily turned me in. Why did you do that?"

Draco stared at her, a completely black expression marring his features. That was a legit question. Why _hadn't_ he turned her in? _Why_ had he protected her?

"I…"

He failed to formulate an answer to that question. Even in his own mind there was no plausible reason he could think of. The only coherent thought he could come up with as he gazed upon those russet orbs, those pink flushed cheeks and those cherry red lips was: _Why shouldn't I?_ And indeed, why should he turn her in? Why couldn't he protect her?

Hermione felt her face light up as Draco's intense gaze stared unyielding at her. The gleam in his eyes reminiscent of the look he'd given her in the Slytherin common room made her feel slightly lighthearted and she staggered, leaning into him for support.

Draco automatically pulled his arms around her. There was a voice in the back of his mind which kept scratching at him and telling him there was a good reason why he shouldn't protect the girl, but for the life of him she couldn't remember what it was. His thoughts blanked as he let his head lean gently forward, feeling her warm breathing land softly on his skin.

Hermione's cheeks flushed even harder when his nose gently landed on hers, his warm breath tickling her face. Was he going to-

"Get your hands off her!" A voice hissed menacingly as a wand dug painfully into Draco's back.

Draco stiffened as Hermione hastily pulled away from him and stared horrified at Ron Weasley, who was glaring bloody murder at the back of Draco's head.

"Ronal, it's not what you think," Hermione was quick to say.

"You mean this bloody twat was not molesting you up until now?" Ron asked looking furious.

"Oh…Okay, it is what you think," Hermione conceded. "But it's not something worth a lifetime in Azkaban for!" she hasted in saying as she saw Ron dig his wand further in Malfoy's back, a curs at the tip of his tongue.

"Oh, bugger off, will you Weasley," Draco said and calmly distanced himself from Ron, but the other boy stubbornly trailed his wand at him. "Your _girlfriend_ and I were having a pleasant conversation up until you interrupted us," Malfoy said cheekily, to spite him.

"I bet you were," Ron hissed and looked about ready to curse the blond into oblivion, but Hermione hurriedly stepped between them.

"Ron, he's not worth it!" she said and grabbed his wand arm.

"I most definitely am!" Draco said spitefully. "But I wonder if Granger is worth making a scene for? What with McGonagall being so close and all. I wonder what she'd do if she found her here?" Draco asked leveling them both with a cruel smile.

Both Ron and Hermione tensed as they stared worriedly into Draco's cold eyes.

"You wouldn't dare," Ron said.

"Oh, wouldn't I?" Draco asked mockingly.

"Ron, let's get out of here!" Hermione implored as she grabbed a hold of his hand and dragged him towards the direction she thought Honesydukes was.

"So, you're not even gonna stay and fight for your girlfriends honor? You're pathetic Weasley," Malfoy said as he shot Ron a disapproving look.

"Ron, please!" Hermione's grip on Ron's hand tightened as she felt the other struggle to escape her grasp, and most likely lung himself at the blond. "McGonagall will expel me if she finds out I'm here," she hissed desperately in his ear. "Is that what you want?"

Ron took one look at her desperate face and his struggle ceased. He shuck his head lightly and put his arm around her.

"Come one," Hermione said as she too wrapped her arms around him and began guiding him away from the blond. She spun her head around once to see Draco glaring at her as if she was the lowest of scum, and swiftly averted her eyes from him and quickened her pace. For some reason his hate-filled gaze bothered her more than it should.

-OOOOOOO-

"It's nice to see you again my old friend," Heidi said as she leisurely made her way down the snow filled road towards a bench at the end of a pub where William Norbert, renowned for being one of the most gifted Medi-Wizards to have ever lived, the current patron of Saint Mungo's and respectful pureblood, was standing silently. He wore a black trench coat, with black woolly trousers and a black Flock Hat on top.

"Is this what you call a disguise? You're such an easy to pick target amidst all this white, my friend that I truly find myself wondering how you managed to come out of the war unscratched?" Heidi said, as she sat herself on the bench beside the man.

"Those were different times, My Lord," the man responded as he took off his hat and bowed his head respectfully.

"Ah, yes, the good old days," Heidi lamented. "Do you miss them? Or do you feel like you're better of now?"

"With all the filth coming into my hospital and expecting to be treated with the same respect as my own kind?" William asked sounding utterly disgusted. "No, my Lord, I still crave for the old days when, at the very least, I could purge the world of such scum through your guidance. I eagerly await your return to power and have faithfully fulfilled your demands these past few months."

"Oh, have you?" Heidi asked as she leveled the man with a hard glare. "Then, tell me, _old friend_, why have you failed to inform me of your progress in these past few months like I've instructed you to?" Her hand came to rest on his left arm, her fingers tracing it lightly, making the man hiss in pain as his skin boiled beneath his sleeves. "Don't toy with me William, old friend!" she hissed menacingly in his ear. "You're living quite the life, you've made a name for yourself, you're rich and respectful. Are you telling me that none of that has made your resolve for our cause wane in the slightest?"

"It has not, my Lord," William assured, and there was something about his voice and the fact that he was staring her straight in the eyes as he said so that made Heidi believe him. "I've failed to contact you, because, unfortunately, the old man is keeping tabs on your mail. Pardon me! I meant the girl's mail," William corrected himself. "An old friend - and still very much loyal servant of yours - who is part of the Board of Governors told me that the old man has requested that every mail in or out of the school be monitored. And I'm expecting the old man has taken it upon himself to personally check the mail of the Potter twins."

"And the Board of Governors allowed that?" Heidi asked looking slightly stiff.

"Well, with the threat of Black looming over their heads…"

"That old goat!" Heidi cursed.

"I beg your pardon my Lord, but my men have failed to locate Black as of yet, although they have managed to capture an old friend of ours," William informed her.

"You can cease your hunt for Black," Heidi told him. "He's no threat to me."

"Most certainly my Lord," William bowed his head obediently.

"Now, tell me about this friend of ours?"

"Yes, well. It happened one Tuesday, as I-"

"Don't attempt to flatter me with one of your fancy tales William, old friend," Heidi said sharply. "I've little time to waste on such nonsense!"

"Of course my Lord," William was quick to agree as he felt the skin on his left forearm burn hot, signaling his Lord's impatience. "Peter Pettigrew," William managed to say through gritted teeth, as he struggled to withhold a scream. And, like wonder, the pain from his arm suddenly vanished. "They caught Peter Pettigrew," the man said after he composed himself. "They'd installed some booby traps specifically for animagi, on a mere whim, since I told them to be fully prepared to capture Black, and instead of Black, they stumbled across Peter Pettigrew. The little vermin told us quite an interesting story, my Lord, he apparently knew about you, though, I do not know why, he mentioned the other Potter twin, the red-haired, not Madam Heidi."

"Oh, did he now?" Heidi asked looked very much intrigued. "I should like to see the memory," the brunet demanded.

"I beg your pardon?" William asked, not sure what was requested of him.

Heidi pulled out her wand and pointed it at him. "It will hurt less if you don't struggle," she said, a wicked gleam playing in her eyes.

"Oh," William managed, leveling her wand with a wary glare.

"You don't mind? Do you, old friend?" Heidi asked sweetly, though the sharp look on the young girl's face, and the cruel spark in those blood stained eyes assured William that the Dark Lord was feeling slightly vindictive with his incompetence seeing as, in the next second his Lord hissed "Legilimence," without any regard for his answer. The man spazzed, as he felt a presence in his mind, violently searching through his memories and tried his best to keep calm and not fight off the attack. Soon, his Lord had found what he came for and the presence retreated from his mind.

"Interesting," William heard his Lord murmur as he tried to regain his composure. The headache shouldn't last long, and he'd been wise enough to bring a couple of potions with him, having expected something of the sorts, if not something much crueler. But it seemed that the last thirteen years spent in retirement has softened the Dark Lord, so much so that he was starting to question whether his Lord was as competent a leader as he once was.

"What of the other matters I've assigned you?" his Lord demanded, forcing William out of his reverie.

"Yes, my Lord. I've located your wand. Dumbledore was quick to hand it off to the ministry, where it was catalogued as evidence in the Murder case of the Potters, and locked in the safe of crimes where you are believed to be the main perpetrator of. The case has been closed for year, and I'm certain most people have even forgotten it's there. It won't be a problem retrieving it," William assured in a calm diplomatic tone.

"You shall leave it where it is until I say otherwise," Heidi ordered.

"Of course my Lord," William was quick to assure. "As for the last matter which you've assigned me…" Heidi impatiently nodded for him to continue. "My dearest son and I traveled to Albania and worked our way through half the land already, searching for clues of this important Dark artifact that you lost. And we struck gold! As soon as we reached Kruje, we began picking up rumors of an ominous presence wondering the woods of Tirana Forest. My son and I have already started our search through the forest, and I can assure you, My Lord, I'm certain we have the right place. The wildlife is scattered far and in between, and most animal fear to approach a part of the woods near the lake. I estimate it shouldn't take us more then a few weeks to locate the artifact you so desire."

"I'm pleased to hear that, my friend," Heidi said smiling cruelly. "The moment you find the artifact I require, you are to contact me immediately!"

"Yes, of course," William nodded obediently.

"If that is all you have to report, I shall be taking my leave then," Heidi said as she rose to her feet. William hastily rose to his feet and bowed respectfully, and then patiently waited for his Lord to take a few steps before turning to make his way back to the main street.

"And William old friend," his Lord said, which caused William to swiftly turn around. "I didn't Crucio you because I doubted you'd have been able to withhold your screams as admirably as you have done in the past. Don't think it was kindness that swayed my hand from punishing you! And don't expect forgiveness if next we meet, you fail to deliver what I ask of you!"

The cruelness in those eyes, and the unmistakable threat in those words served to assure William that time had failed to soften his Lord's cold heart, and that he was a fool for thinking so to begin with. William respectfully bowed down on one kneed and then quickly made his getaway, eager to not tempt his Lord to change his mind and spare him the "kindness" he'd shown up until now.

-OOOOOOO-

"And those little ones on the left?" Luna asked looking enthusiastic.

"Those, are Burrowing Owl. They're the fastest ones around here, and are only used for Ministry emergencies, last I checked. They're not available to the general public unless you pay a solid fee for it," Neville said bashfully. For once in his life he felt immensely grateful to his uncle Algie for drilling in his head every boring detail about the Owls in the Post Office, since not even Diana, notorious animal lover that she was, knew much about the different species of owl which were buzzing around and flying chaotically al over the place.

Not that it mattered, since Diana had left quite a while ago with Black, apparently she had something important to talk to him, or that's the excuse she'd told him, while Luna and he had been abandoned in the vast, crowded and feather ridden emporium of owls, so he'd been left to entertain Luna all by himself. Not that he minded, since Luna was effectively distracted by all the different specimens of owls buzzing around, and for the first time in her life, the girl looked truly happy, or, better said, actually interested or impressed with something.

"They remind me of a Blibbering Humdinger," Luna said while turning to smile lightly at Neville.

"A what now?" Neville asked confused.

"A Blibbering Humdinger," Luna reiterated. "It's like a little winged fairy, except it's wings look just like those of an owl. Do you think we might find one here if we searched hard enough."

"We might," Neville said while trying to keep a straight face. The smile on Luna's face was so adorable that the boy truly didn't want to ruin this moment for her, even if he doubted that a whatever Hum-thing existed. "But I do think we've wasted enough time in one place as it is, Hogsmeade's got a lot more places we can visit, and the longer we stay in one place-"

"The easier it will be for our pursuers to catch us," Luna finished.

"Exactly," Neville nodded. "We'll return here on our next Hogsmeade weekend," the boy assured. "Or even next year, when we, hopefully, won't have to break any more laws to visit the place."

"So, you'll be done with your illicit affairs?" Luna asked curiously.

"Knowing my group, it's safe to say that: no, I won't be done, not by a long shot," Neville told her jokingly. "In fact, I think we got off pretty cheep this year. Nothing that would warrant our immediate expulsion, I don't think they'd expel us even if they catch us now."

"Probably not," Luna agreed. "Though we might get suspended."

"Been there, done that. And frankly, the only terrifying thing about it was spending the summer break with Granny, rather then the actual suspension itself," Neville said remembering last year, and shivering slightly.

Luna perked a curious brow at him as the two kids started making their way to the exit of the Post Office.

"Well, you remember the story about the Basilisk last year?" Neville asked, while trying to think of a way to explain the trail of events that led to their suspension. Luna nodded and patiently waited for Neville to elaborate, but the boy suddenly froze.

This was one of the stories Neville had not been comfortable sharing with anyone, not even his Granny. He'd been unable to talk to anyone about it, and if it hadn't been for Heidi explaining it to his Granny, he was sure the elder woman wouldn't have been able to pull a word out of his mouth. There were too many horrors in the tale, too many close calls for the boy's liking.

A soft hand on his wrist brought the boy out of his revelry, and before he'd known it, he found himself outside of the majestic columns of the Post Office, and onto the cold, snow covered streets of Hogsmeade, wandering about aimlessly with Luna by his side.

"You don't have to tell me," Luna said. "If it bothers you. You don't have to tell me."

Neville was slightly stunned by Luna's understanding nature. While he couldn't exactly call his friends vultures, the girls had quite the flare for meddling in one's private affairs, especially Heidi, when the girl felt it benefited her to know certain stuff, but Luna, she felt completely unobtrusive. And Neville was suddenly reminded that the girl was ostracized by her own house, she was probably too scared to impose on other people, fearing that he and the girls would be annoyed with her meddling. Just like he did the first time the girls had accepted him into his group.

"I'll tell you," Neville said suddenly looking determined at her. Just like the girls had opened their arms and hearts onto him, he thought it was about time he did the same. Granted, Diana had been the one to first pull Luna into the group, but she had so much on her plate right now that she wasn't giving Luna the attention she'd given him in second year, so Neville decided it fell onto him to help Luna feel like she truly belonged in the group.

"You really don't have to-" Luna said looking extremely uncomfortable. Her discomfort assured Neville that he was right, and that Luna truly was wary of what she said around them, probably fearing that she'd upset them. Something Neville had every intention in disproving.

"But I want to!" he assured her, hoping that his message came across, hoping that she understood that he truly wanted to be her friend, that he trusted her. "So, I will! I'll tell you, one of these days, when the wounds have sealed off somewhat."

The puzzled expression on Luna's face was alien to him. He'd gotten so used to seeing the indifferent look on her face that he'd somewhat mistaken her for a doll. He felt terrible for it, and he promised himself he'd never make that mistake again.

Luna smiled tentatively, warily, probably still unsure of what to make of his statement.

"I'm not trying to con you," he told her. "I just want to be friends."

"We can be friends even without you sharing your deepest, darkest secrets," Luna told him.

"I know," Neville assured. "But I want you to trust me. I want you to know that you can."

"I trust you!" Luna replied hastily, panic creeping into her voice. Then, as if suddenly noticing her slip, she lower her head to the ground and mumbled a feeble: "I think I do…"

"Well, I trust you," Neville assured. Luna's eyes suddenly snapped to him, confusion flooding her figure.

"You hardly know me," she said. "Isn't that a little…rash?"

"Maybe," Neville said after considering it for a second. "But it doesn't matter," he waved the issue off; "because I _want _to trust you! So I'll tell you."

He quite literary enjoyed the bewildered look on Luna's face, and even more so the shy, but genuine smile that spread on her visage as her cheeks became rosy and she lowered her head to the ground again. It only stayed there for a few moments, then her gaze lifted up to his again, a mixture of emotions marring her features, making her look so human, fragile and innocent, that it made Neville desperately want to protect the frail being in front of him.

"Then, I'll be waiting," Luna said at long last; "for when you're ready." And Neville smiled.

-OOOOOOO-

Diana was getting increasingly frustrated with seeing teachers everywhere she went, so she decided to head on over to the infamous Shrieking Shack so she could enjoy a quiet conversation with Sirius. There were just so many things that she wanted to know, about her parents, their friends, their life, the times they lived in. So many questions that had been bothering her ever since she found out that the Dursleys weren't her biological parents.

She loved Vernon and Petunia dearly, and she couldn't quite imagine what life without them and Dudley would be like… or, at the very least, she couldn't, because she never knew there was an alternative. But now she knew, had known for quite some time now, and it left her wondering… had her real parents loved her? Would she have been just as happy with them as she had been with Vernon and Petunia? Would the Potters and the Dursleys be close? Would she be as close to Dudley as she was now, or would they be living in the wizarding world, completely unaware of their Muggle relatives? Would she have been a better witch had she lived with her parents? Would she have had more boyfriends had she not had Dudley looming over her shoulder and always getting in the way? Or would she even care?

"Did they love me?" That was the first question that Diana asked Sirius once they finally arrived at the Shrieking Shack, an old little battered house that seemed like it was about to fall apart. Diana found the depressing scenery a prefect reflection of the way she was feeling inside. So many questions which had her very much confused. She needed answers, wanted them desperately.

"My parents, I mean" Diana clarified when Sirius gave her a baffled look. "Did they love me?"

"Oh, Lilly-flower, of course they did!" Sirius said reassuringly and gently placed his hands on her shoulder, looking her straight in the eye. "They loved you, and your sister, more than life itself! They gave their lives to protect you, because they loved you so much! Don't ever doubt that!"

Sirius seemed sincere, yet, she couldn't help but think that he might have give the exact same answer if the truth was another. Was he lying to her, or was he telling the truth? How could she know? She wasn't good at reading people; that was more Heidi's thing. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

"Hey, hey, look at me Lilly-flower," Sirius was whispering soothingly as his hands wrapped around her face and her head was gently lifted upwards to look at him.

Diana was suddenly left wondering when she'd looked away.

"It's alright. Look at me! Your parents loved you!" Sirius said reassuringly as a gently hand brushed against her damp cheeks slowly wiping away a stray tear.

Was she crying?

"Do you hear me? They loved you!" Sirius stated once more with conviction. "There is noting in this world they loved more then you and your sister, and I'm sure they'd give anything to be here with you right now, but they can't!" The gaunt and warn expression on Sirius's face suddenly lost the youthful glimpse it had acquired in the past few months, and for a moment, he looked every bit like the man who'd spent twelve years of his life in the dreadful wizarding prison, a sad, broken and crumbling man. "I'm so sorry pup, but they can't! Because I couldn't protect them! I'm so sorry pup!"

Sirius crouched down on his knees; head bowed and shouldered sagged, his hands still digging into the soft material of her wool jacket. It made him look pitiable, which in turns made Diana forget about her own pain and make her concentrate on making him feel better instead.

"I don't think they'd like it very much if they saw us sad," she said taking a big breath and exhaling slowly. "So how bout we commemorate them instead?" Sirius looked up and nodded slowly, trying very hard to keep himself from reverting back to a pitiful mess. "How bout you tell me a story, from the happier times?"

Sirius laughed humorously, a bright spark suddenly lighting up his eyes. "Oh, I have plenty of those! Your father and I made quite a reputation for ourselves around the school in our student days. We were infamous pranksters-"

"Get down!" Diana suddenly shrieked, and before Sirius knew what was happening, the girl had pulled her wand out of her pocket and knocked him sideways and clear out of the way of a stunner which collided with the ground he'd been standing a few moments ago.

Sirius was quick to scramble to his feet and wildly look around, until his eyesight landed on two identical pairs of red-heads, who were eying him with increase dread but, also, firm determination.

"Don't think we'll let you lay a hand on her!" One of the twins said, face set.

"Yeah! Don't worry Diana; we're here to save you!" The other responded in-kind, as Diana looked anxiously between the two's raised wands and Sirius's defensive stance.

Her sister would have her head for this one, she was sure of it!

-OOOOOOO-

**AN**: I'm looking for a beta-reader (or more, depends on how many are wiling to help me with this little project), to help me correct the spelling mistakes throughout the story (this includes first and second year), because every time I write a new chapter, I usually revisit some of the old ones in order to reacquaint myself with the story, and I've been noticing a lot of spelling mistakes which really bugs me, so if anyone is willing to help in that department I will be very grateful. Whoever thinks himself up for the job, PM me and we'll take care of the details then. Thanks in advance to whoever is willing to help!


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Hassle**

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Diana snapped glaring venomously at the twins. "Put your wands away right now!"

Fred and George both ogled the red-haired weirdly as if she'd gone bonkers.

"That was directed at Black, right?" One of the twins asked confused.

"Do you see a wand in Black's hand?" Diana asked exasperatedly.

"Well…. no, not yet," Fred said eying Black suspiciously.

"But he could have one in his pocket!" George was quick to accuse. Fred was quick to nod his agreement.

"He has no wand! Now can you please be so kind as to lower yours! This is all a big misunderstanding which we can easily clear up," Diana asked looking extremely impatient.

Fred and George exchanged doubtful looks. Here they were, a pair of two mischievous Gryffindors, out on the hunt for supplies for one of their pranks, thinking that this day had gone rather well, considering how cheep most of their supplies had been, when they stumbled upon an incredible scene: Diana Potter, their venerated red-haired princess, held captive in the arms of one notorious prisoner Sirius Black (whom many believed had travelled all the way to Hogwarts just so he could find the Potter twins), and crying her little eyes out, as the Psychopath laughed creepily and spoke of mischief's that he and his 'buddies' (the term buddy referring to the psycho's creepy Death Eater friends) had done in their school time.

The twins had obviously come to the following conclusion: Diana had somehow found a way to sneak out of the castle and make her way to Hogsmeade ("I think it was the Marauders' Map!" one twin thought. "Damn! I knew that one would come to bite us in the ass one day!" the other cursed), where Black (the scheming mongrel that he was), patiently waited up until the girl was alone so that he could capture her, and now that he had her in his clutches, he decided to first terrify her with ancient ghost stories before actually killing her (because that was what vile psychos like him did). The twins obviously envisioned themselves as the brave heroes of the story, who arrived just in the nick of time to save the fair maiden from the despicable villain's grasp, but it appeared as if the maiden did not wish to be saved. How on earth could you explain that? Stockholm Syndrome?

"Oh," Fred suddenly said, as realization dawned upon him and he quickly turned to give his brother a panicked look. "The Imperius Curse!"

"Oh," George said as he too, turned his panicked eyes on Diana, suddenly seeing her protective stance in front of the mass murderer in a new light.

It seemed like his fair lady had been bewitched into thinking that the Murdering Psycho was the Hero of the tale. But that was wrong! They were the Heroes here! And they had to save the princess, even if she through she wanted otherwise!

"Listen, guys," Diana spoke up, taking the two's silent contemplation as a cue to explain her dilemma. Fred and George would surely understand! "It's not what you think! Black is the good guy! He's been wrongly accused of-"

"Now, George!" Fred screamed, and the two started firing an arsenal of stunners at Diana and Sirius.

Diana was shell-shocked, but hastily erected a shield to block the upcoming spells. George lung forward, crashing straight into the red-haired and sending them both flying backwards, as Fred raced pass them, still raining down stunners on Sirius, who was quick to turn into dog mode and dodge.

"He's an animagus!" Fred yelled at George.

"Keep him away from here!" George yelled back. "Stop struggling Diana, we're here to save you!" the younger twins said as he vehemently tried wrestling Diana's wand out of her hand, while trying to keep his hold on his own wand.

"You're the one who's assaulting me! So how the hell can you tell me that you want to save me? Get off me!" Diana snapped as she desperately tried to throw George's massive form off her, but it was of no use! The other was a lot stronger, heavier, and way to stubborn to boot. He was practically crushing her left leg with his right one, but her right leg managed to slip in between his. Oh, Weasley was gonna get it now! "Get off me right now, George Weasley or you'll pay dearly for this!" Diana threatened one last time, but George refused to budge so she kicked him, straight in the nuts.

George's mouth made a comical 'o' shape as his face contorted in pain and his weight fell limply on that of Diana's, his hands rushing to cover his pride and joy. Diana was quick to throw George off her and turned on her stomach to see Sirius running his way around Fred, most likely trying to get to her and help. One of Fred's blasting hexes finally manages to hit home, and it threw Sirius a few feet across the ground.

"NO!" Diana shrieked and scrambled to her feet, but a hand reached out and grabbed her foot, causing her to topple over and land on her face. George had apparently recovered, and resumed his efforts of wrestling her wand out of her hand.

"Relax, Diana!" George said forcibly and turned his wand on her. "Or I _will_ stun you!"

"He's innocent!" Diana shrieked when she saw Fred make his way towards Sirius' fallen figure.

"And I'm sure he wound up a convincing tall to go with that statement," George assured. "But it's just that! A tale! He _murdered_ _your parents_!"

"No, he didn't!" Diana said and turned her angry glare to stare up at George's unyielding eyes. "It was Pettigrew! Pettigrew was the secret keeper not Sirius!" the red-haired proclaimed defensively. "Please," she said, tears beginning to fall down her pretty face as she begged George. "You have to believe me!"

George looked pained, but his hand was still clenched around Diana's wand hand in a firm grip, and he still refused to let her move. "Don't worry," George assured looking shooting. "We'll take you to Dumbledore, and he'll undo the spell that vile person placed you under! Everything will be alright!"

Diana's heart froze at the very mention of Dumbledore, remembering all to well her sister's refusal to go seek the other's assistance in the matter, and she proceeded to struggle more violently then before. "No, please! You have to believe me!"

Fred was carefully making his way over to Black, his wand trailed at him, fearing that the other might be faking and biding his time to attack him when he wasn't ready.

"Incarcerous," Fred chanted, and a beam of gold light flew from his wand and wrapped itself around Fluffy's form, binding him in place.

"Hey!" a voice suddenly shouted from somewhere around his left, and Fred turned in the direction to see Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood running at him with full speed, both looking extremely worried.

_Oh, good! Reinforcements_, George thought and waved at them.

"What do you think you're doing!" Neville shouted as soon as he'd caught up with the twin, baring his wand threateningly at him.

"Get away from Fluffy!" Luna said and leveled her wand at him.

"Whoa there you two!" Fred said as he raised his hands in the air. "That think lying on the ground is no dog! That's Sirius Black! I was only detaining him!" Fred told the two hoping to reason this out with them.

"Luna! Neville! They want to turn Sirius in to Dumbledore!" Diana shouted, drawing the three's attention towards her and George.

Fred froze. Did that mean that Black had Imperioud the two before him as well? He didn't have time to finish that trail of thought, because Neville and Luna took one look at Diana and George's compromising position and simultaneously stunned Fred into oblivion, before making their way towards George.

"Fred!" George shouted horrified, his head freezing for a moment, and that was all Diana needed. She freed her hand from George's sloppy grip and dug her elbow straight in his jaw, forcing the other to bite down hard on his own tongue, which left a healthy dose of coppery taste seep into his mouth. George's hands flew to his face, as Diana swiftly turned around, and, now having the use of her wand hand as well, sent the boy flying off her with a powerful and rage ridden stunner.

"Diana, are you okay?" Neville asked as soon as he and Luna got to the red-haired.

"I'm fine now," Diana assured, scrambling to her feet and dusting the mount of snow off her. Luna nodded and hastily made her way back to Sirius' side. "But, these two are trouble," the red-haired said as she glared angrily at George's fallen figure.

"We have to do something about them," Neville said.

"Oh, we will," the red-haired assured, still glaring bloody murder at George's fallen figure.

-OOOOOOO-

Heidi finally managed to clime back up the trap door which hid behind the Three-eyed Witch in the third floor corridor. She couldn't believe that she'd thought it a brilliant idea to go stroll around Hogsmeade on a winter's day given her condition.

She was trembling from head to toe, her nose was stuffy and she was burning up rather badly, and the worst part was, she could hardly remember a thing of what she did in the 5 or so hours she'd spent in Hogsmeade.

_Must be a side effect of the addiction_, Heidi thought bitterly. Ah, Madam Pomfrey was going to have her head for this.

"Heidi!" she'd barely managed to make her way to the stairway and she'd already bumped into trouble, this just didn't look like it was going to be her day, at all.

"Cedric," the brunet turned around to glare at the boy looking anything but pleased to see him. _How dare he show his face after standing me up on our date_!

_Now, where did that thought come from?_ The brunet wondered. Ah, right, she'd told her sister that she'd go to see him when they split out in Hogsmeade, but she couldn't quite remember arranging a date with the boy…

"-wondering what I did?" a voice was saying, irritably scratching at her eardrums from somewhere too far away for her to care. It was only when the sound suddenly vanished, and her ears started ringing in the silence that she realized that someone had spoken. She looked upwards into Cedric's questioning face. Was he talking to her?

"I'm sorry, but I didn't catch that," she asked looking very much confused. When had Cedric got here?

"I a-k you, if -hing's wro-?" Cedric said. "I -ted to k- if I - so-ing to -set -u? Be-use it's -ous -u've -ee- ig-ing - the- p- few we-s! A- I w-t to -ow why?"

"What are you saying?" Heidi asked again, head spinning. "Speak up!" she struggled to say, but her voice seemed so feeble that it barely managed to sound above a whisper. Heidi leaned heavily on the balcony feeling a wave of nausea overtake her. Someone was holding her upright, or so she thought, she couldn't tell, it was all a mix of feeling and sensation and her head was spinning way too fast to form any coherent thoughts.

"Eidi!"

_Eidi? Who the fuck is Eidi? Oh! Heidi! Someone is calling my name_… That was the last coherent though the brunet had before darkness engulfed her.

-OOOOOOO-

"Come on you rascals wake up!" Someone shouted in his ear, and suddenly, George was up and alert, his head spinning slightly, before it settled on the menacing figure of Sirius Black, who was standing but an inch from his face. He froze, heart beating wildly as he stared unblinkingly into those cruel eyes. He tried moving his hands, but found them bound together behind his back. Was Black going to kill him?

A soft moan from his left alerted him to his brother's presence, and he quickly averted his eyes from Black to steal a quick glance of his twin who was just now waking up.

"Fred, are you alright?" George asked tightly.

"He's fine," Sirius responded. "For now…" the gaunt and derisive looking convict moved away from the two as George and Fred huddled closer together, both swallowing heavily and tracing Black's every move around what seemed like the inside of an old and demolished house.

There were three figures sitting on the dusty old bed in the corner: Diana, Neville and Luna. All lay unblinking, scattered around like dolls a little kid had thrown randomly about as soon as he'd finished playing with them, with their eyes cast to the floor, chests slowly rising and falling in rhythmatic turns.

"Oh, don't mind them! I've sent them off to rest," Sirius said merrily as he dumped himself on top of a random box lying around, hands dangling between his legs as he eyed them with a child like curiosity.

"They're old and uninteresting. I got bored playing with them," Sirius continued, sounding nothing less then a child who was speaking of some old toys he wanted to throw away, not children. "But you," Sirius suddenly leaped off the old box, landing right beside them, his boots echoing loudly as they connected with the dusty floor. Fred and George both gave and indignant, horrified shriek as they mashed closer together, lumps forming in their throats and hearts beating wildly as eyes followed ever movement that the convict was making towards them. The gleam in his eyes looked terrifying, and when he spoke next ("You're interesting and new! We're going to have so much fun together!"), both of their Lion hearts melted away, leaving nothing but scared and cowering little children behind who screamed and cried for mommy, for help, for anyone!

"Will you stop that?" Neville shouted, unable to take the screaming anymore.

Fred and George stopped screaming to look uneasily at Neville and Diana's figures who'd risen from the bed and began walking around. Luna had straightened up herself, but she looked no different then a puppet to them, what with that blank looking smile on her face.

"What? That was it?" Sirius asked, rising to his feet and looking sorely disappointed. "I was just getting started!" Sanity seemed to have returned to his eyes, so much so that Fred and George had a hard time distinguishing this new person from the old demented apparition which lay in his place just moments ago.

"I know, but these two scream louder then the cowardly dog from that TV show on Cartoon," Diana said looking apologetic. "It's pathetic and it's making my ears hurt."

"And you guys thought yourself saviors?" Neville asked looking severely disappointed.

"Yep. Woe is me if I have to rely on this packs of idiots to save me," Diana said looking just as let down as Neville.

Fred and George looked at the assembling crowd as if they'd all gone bonkers, or as if _they_ had gone bonkers, the two didn't know anymore. Maybe they were all Death Eaters and were taking their precious time breaking their minds until they went insane, and then they'd kill them. Either way, this was completely fucked up!

"Are you still alive in there?" Diana came before them and snapped her finger in front of their faces. George flinched, but Fred refused to make a sound. He thought that maybe, if he ignored her – whoever this was – she'd know that he wasn't playing and she'd leave him alone.

"What is this?" George said, causing Fred to flinch. The two were usually on the same wavelength, but it seemed that his brother's frequency was working a little slow today, as he'd just baited the bitch.

"Payback for assaulting me earlier," Diana stated flatly.

"Well, we should have done more then assault you!" Fred spat viciously.

"Who are you? And what have you done with Diana and Neville?" George was quick to ask.

"Don't bother George! The monsters have probably killed them by now! They're probably going to kill us soon!"

'Diana' and 'Neville' both shared confused looks, while Black barked out a humorous laugh.

"We're not going to kill you!" Sirius said as if them thinking such things was an insult to his persona.

"Though Diana did want to castrate you two," Neville said, and hasted in assuring: "We didn't let her!" when the two turned horrified expressions towards their pants.

"And what do you mean by 'where are Neville and Diana'? We're standing right in front of you!" Diana said while giving the two a perplexed look.

"I think the two think we're Death Eaters in disguise," Luna stated, still sitting languidly on top of the bed, her feet rocking back and forth.

Diana burst out laughing at this, and Neville followed suit. Sirius was the only one looking thoughtful out of the three.

"I can see why they'd think so," he told the other two who stopped laughing at once and turned to glare at Fred and George's indignant expressions.

"We're not Death Eaters!" Diana said at once, annoyed with the two for thinking such.

"Prove it!" The twins snapped in unison.

"Fine," Neville said, and pulled out his wand. "Finite Incantatem!" he chanted, and the ropes that bound the twins in place were suddenly released.

Fred and George looked shell-shocked, but still eyed them suspiciously.

"Here!" Diana pulled their wands from inside her pocket and extended the two pieces of wood to the twins. "Take them!"

The twins, still looking doubtful, reached cautiously for their wands, and as soon as they had them, they turned them on their supposed captors.

"Are we seriously going to do this?" Diana asked now looking extremely un-amused.

"Seriously guys!" Neville sigh looking disappointed. "You asked us to prove if we're Death Eaters or not, well, here's some news for you: We aren't! We could have killed you while you were unconscious, but we didn't! Alright? We just decided to play a prank on you since Diana was still mad about the assault and all that, but we were never going to do any more than that!"

"A pranks?" George asked incredulous. "With an escaped convict? Are you mad?"

"Yeah," Fred said eying Black suspiciously. "What's his story then?"

"If you'd lower those damn things we'll tell you!" Diana snapped at them. "That's what we- what _I_'ve been trying to do since the start! But _you_ wouldn't listen to me!"

"I won't bite," Sirius said, holding his hands up in the air and looking like he meant it.

As soon as Fred and George lowered their wands, the kids launched into the story on how they'd met Sirius, how they too had thought him guilty, up until they'd seen the dot of Peter Pettigrew on the map with their own eyes.

"Wait," Fred interrupted them looking horrified. "You mean to tell me that Scabbers is-"

"The actual Death Eater," Neville assured at once.

"He's the one who betrayed my parents to Voldemort (the twins visibly flinched) and blamed it all on Sirius," Diana told them. "And he's been living as your brother's pet rat for _years_!"

"I can't believe this!" George exclaimed looking stunned.

"Yes, it is rather unbelievable and all that, but, please, do you think you can help us?" Diana begged the twins. "We've tried to keep a look out for Pettigrew in case he decided to come back, but we can't keep an eye on Ron 24/7 and definitely can't walk up to him and tell him his rat is a Mass Murderer on the run, but you guys! You're his family! You can just ask for the rat, if he ever shows up, and bring him to us, or better yet! Bring him to Dumbledore if you don't trust us, and ask him to check if your rat is really a rat or not! Just, please, we can't prove Sirius is innocent otherwise!"

The mistrusting glee in the twins' eyes didn't vanish as they agree to keep a look out for Pettigrew, and take him to Dumbledore if they ever caught him. Diana and Neville didn't mind, so long as they had someone close to the family looking out for Pettigrew.

The twins were gone as soon as the kids let them leave, and it didn't take much time before the kids returned to Honeydukes, where they found an impatient Hermione waiting for them.

"Where have you been?" she asked looking furious. "Ron left hours ago! And I sent Heidi back by herself since she didn't look so well."

"Sorry," Neville apologized. "We ran into some trouble."

"Come on!" Diana prompted. "We'll talk on the way back to the castle."

They quickly made their way back through the tunnel and manage to slip out of the third floor corridor undetected. Sirius hadn't accompanied them back, he'd taken a different tunnel which seemed to go right beneath the Whomping Willow, and Luna left their group as soon as they reach the fifth floor. Hermione was still very much angry with them when the blond left, and was chewing up Neville and Diana's ears off for the whole Sirius being discovered by the twins fiasco, but, luckily for them, they encountered Ron on their way to Gryffindor tower.

"Finally you decided to show up!" He said looking displeased. "Where were you?" he directed his question at Hermione, a mistrusting gleam in his eyes.

"It took these dunderheads too long to remember that we had an appointment, so I was stuck there for a few extra hours. Nearly ran into McGonagall while I waited," Hermione said while giving Neville and Diana a foul look, which the two pointedly ignored. "Why? Is something the matter?"

"Yeah," Ron said, his expression softening. "It's Heidi. She's in the hospital wing. Apparently she fainted on the stairs"

"What?" Hermione and Neville chorused.

"Fainted? Are you sure?" Diana asked looking worried. "But her fainting means that her condition might have worsened!" the red haired said and rushed to make her way down the stairs.

"What do you mean by that?" Neville asked as he struggled to catch up with her. He was very tire, and all he wanted to do was lye down and rest, but he was too worried about his friend to do so.

"What I mean is: The nurse told us Heidi had a mild case of Anemia, which she'd probably developed due to those awful eating habits she'd picked up this summer; but, if that were the case, she'd only feel a little weekend, out of energy, out of breath and all that. It wouldn't be anything major, and the nurse said that she'd depicted it in time and was already treating for it. So she should have gotten better! But fainting is a sign that her condition's getting worse not better!"

"How can you know that?" Hermione asked worried.

"Because I read about it," Diana said looking offended. "You're not the only one who reads around here, you know!"

"Of course! I wasn't trying to upset you or anything, I was just curious," Hermione was quick to say, though her mind was going wild with worry. Diana had read up on Anemia! She knew the symptoms that the illness presented! Didn't that mean that she could most likely tell that this was not Anemia she was dealing with if she saw her sister? This was bad. Hermione had to do something about this!

Or maybe she didn't.

"She caught a cold?" Diana asked looking perplexed.

"Obviously!" Madam Pomfrey snapped. "What did you think? That it was healthy to take a person with a weak immune system out for a walk on such a cold day?"

Diana blushed red from embarrassment. "No… I didn't even think about that…"

"Obviously you didn't!" Poppy snapped. "That's the difference between a doctor and an amateur who flaunts around random pieces of information which she'd read in a book! Now, I shall kindly ask you three to take your leave! There's little you can do here but get in my way."

"Of course!" Hermione was quick to say as she grabbed Diana by the hand. "We'll come back tomorrow to see how she's doing." She tried pulling the red-haired towards the door, which Neville was patiently keeping open for them, but Diana pulled her sleeve from Hermione's grasp and asked the nurse boldly:

"What would it take, to be your apprentice?" the nurse turned to give her a surprised look. "I don't want to be just some amateur sprouting nonsense I've read in a book," Diana said still looking very much embarrassed, but at the same time resolved. "I really do enjoy reading Medical books, and I would like to be able to help people. Treat them for whatever illness they have, like you do. You're a fantastic Healer, and I would like you to tutor me, please!"

The Medi-witch regarded the red-haired thoughtfully as she listened to the other's plea. It surprised her, to be honest. Diana didn't seem like that type who'd waste her life and beauty in some rotten up place caring for the old and sick. She seemed more like the kind of girl you'd see on some stuck-up pureblood's arm, bathed in gold and money, and living the kid of life others could only dream of. She definitely had the looks and attitude for it. And yet, here she was, humbled and honest, asking for guidance to embark on a journey that would most likely lead her away from all that, and probably fill her life with grief and misery, just because she wanted to help people? She seemed so honest and innocent… but the problem was…

"In your sixth year, you will get an extra list of optional courses, and one of those will be called: Introduction to Medicine, which is a course that I personally teach, and which is accessible only to students with an Outstanding in five fields: Defense, Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology and Potions. Fail any one of the five and you will not be able to enlist for the class, however, shall you succeed, and become top of my class, then I will consider the option of taking you up as my apprentice."

With that, Madam Pomfrey personally kicked them out and closed the door in their noses.

"Is she kidding me?" Diana said frustrated, after she'd managed to recover from the shock of the nurse's refusal. "I have to get an _Outstanding_ in _Potions_? How in god's name am I gonna do that?" She asked looking desperate and out of hope.

"I can tutor you," Hermione offered, feeling extremely sorry for her friend.

"No!" Diana refused bluntly, looking determined. "I'm way behind on the subject, I've never opened a Potions book in my life, and Heidi's been writing all my essays! I don't even know the basics, Hermione! I think I'm gonna need more help than you can give me!"

"How about asking my auntie Enid?" Neville suggested.

"She'll be useful for summer training," the red-haired said. "But right now I need someone a little more close to home than her." She spun on her heals and headed for the marvel stairway with Neville and Hermione jogging to keep up, and then quickly started her descent down the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Hermione asked, looking extremely worried.

"To speak to Snape about Remedial Potion Lessons, of course," Diana called over her shoulder. _And maybe I'll talk to Tom later_, she added as an afterthought.

Hermione and Neville both stopped dead in their tracks, taken aback by her answer.

"You're actually serious about this, aren't you?" Hermione said still looking very much surprised.

"Of course I am!" Diana said. Having reached the ground floor, the red-haired took a swift turn towards the stairway which led to the dungeons, and was soon out of sight.

-OOOOOOO-

When Heidi finally woke up, it was already well pass noon of the second day after Christmas, and she was still feeling like crap.

"You're still running a high fever!" Madam Pomfrey informed her the moment she opened her eyes. "And due to your condition, if I try to give you any medicine, your health will deteriorate, so, I'm sorry to inform you, but you'll have to suffer through this the old fashion way."

The nurse didn't sound very sorry, more like upset and mistrustful of her, and she down right refused to let anyone see her for the next two days, so Heidi was rather surprised with the gossip that Hermione brought her on the evening of the 29th of December.

"Diana is taking Remedial Potions?" Heidi exclaimed still not believing a word she'd heard.

"Yep," Hermione nodded. "A little hard to believe, I know, but it's true. She wants to become a Healer, like Madam Pomfrey."

"Then I suppose I'd better get well fast," Heidi said sounding worried.

"I'm expecting you'll recover by sixth year," Hermione said jokingly.

"Let's hope so," the brunet sighed, not really up for a serious conversation. But Hermione hadn't finished her daily dose of gossip, and carried on by giving her the bad news: Hagrid's Hippogriff, Buckbeak, was going to be tried on the 4th of April, because of the Malfoy incident from the start of term. Heidi wasn't too surprised or sad about that, seeing a she did consider the Hippogriff to be a rather dangerous animal, what interested Heidi the most was what drove Malfoy to choose this particular time to call on the Hippogriff incident? If he was doing it to get back at Hagrid, than he should have done it sooner, rather then so late after the incident had occurred. Or maybe he was only waiting out for enough time to have passed for any injury to heal, since, from what Heidi knew, he wasn't as barely scarred in the incident, and there was no denying the fact that he provoked the Hippogriff, so the Malfoy Patriarch didn't actually have much of a case back then, but now, with the evidence washed down the drain, and between Draco's slick tongue and Lucius's fat wallet, they definitely stood more of a chance to win this trial and humiliate Hagrid.

The good news turned out to be a whole bunch of Christmas Presents, and one in particular caught Heidi's attention.

"A Firebolt!" Heidi exclaimed grinning enthusiastically like a little child. "I'm keeping this even if I'll never be able to fly again!"

Hermione was rather taken aback, since she'd never seen her friend look so much like an innocent little kid who was genuinely enjoying the gift she received, no suspicious glee in her eyes or cautious curiosity that was always there whenever the brunet received a gift of any kind.

"That awesome bastard! I can't believe he'd spend so much on a Christmas present!" Heidi tsked still looking like she didn't believe what she was seeing.

"He wanted to buy Diana a Dragon for Christmas, said that the money's rotting in Gringotts anyway. But he ended up buying her the Medi-Witch's Bible, which wasn't cheep, mind you," Hermione told her.

"It's official. He's insane!" Heidi exclaimed, but laughed mirthfully. "Or he might be trying to buy his way to our hearts…" she looked thoughtful for a second.

"You still don't trust him?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know," Heidi admitted. "He seems… honest."

Hermione nodded.

"That's the impression he gave me as well. But?"

"But, what?" Heidi asked

"Is what you were going to say, right?" Hermione asked. "So, what's the but?"

Heidi carefully considered the matter in her head before answering her friend. "It's kind of his fault as well," the brunet said. "I mean, yes, Voldemort fired the curse, and Pettigrew was the one who told him where they were, but Black was the coward who pushed the task onto Peter to begin with. So he's kind of responsible as well."

"There was no way he could have known," Hermione said.

"I'm aware of that," Heidi said. "I've tried reasoning with myself, but I still resent him somewhat at the end of the day; a little less every day, but it's still there…"

The two were silent for a few moments, Heidi lost in thoughts with a desolated look on her face, and Hermione desperately scanning her mind for any topic that would get the brunet's head off the whole Black topic. And she found it! The Christmas diner, Trelawney's silly predictions about someone dying (obviously her, again) and:

"Noticed anything strange about Professor Lupin lately?" asked Hermione as casually as possible.

"Anything other then the fact that his illness has a nasty habit of coinciding with the full moon?" asked Heidi shrewdly.

Hermione nodded while gracing her friend with an apprehensive look, which soon spread on the face of the brunet.

"You don't honestly think that Professor Dumbledore would hire a… a Werewolf, do you?" asked Hermione in a quivering voice.

"Well, let's see…," said Heidi mockingly as she clicked her tongue and threw her head back pensively. "You remember first year, right? Our DADA Professor was Voldemort himself last I recall. Given the standards that he's set, do you really think it beyond our extravagant Headmaster to deem a Werewolf as an inappropriate Teacher for the post?"

Hermione whispered a nasty little curse which left Heidi glaring at her bewildered for a few moments.

"I'm sorry," she was quick to apologize, her cheeks going rosy.

"Didn't know you had it in you," Heidi said while giving her an appraising look, which left Hermione flustered and mumbling nonsense about homework as she quickly made her getaway.

-OOOOOOO-

"Dumbledore's really done it this time!" Diana whined looking extremely pissed off. "I can't believe he hired a Werewolf to teach us! Doesn't matter how innocent and gullible he looks!"

It was around lunchtime and Diana, Neville, Hermione and Sirius were huddled in an empty class room having checked out (and borrowed without permission) a number of books from the Library on Healing Magic and Plants, hoping to get back on track with their FCNP Project. They would have stayed with Heidi, if the girl'd let them, but as it turned out, the cold had made the brunet cranky, and she'd practically screamed at them to get lost before ignoring their very existence up until they'd left the Hospital Wing.

And so, they'd come here, on the fifth floor, hoping to get some work done, but Sirius (who was unaware of what exactly it was that they were trying to do), had began asking about the project, so Neville was forced to retell the story of how his parents ended up at Saint Mungo's.

"I can't believe it," Sirius had mumbled. "Poor Frank and Alice."

When Neville learned that Sirius had known his parents, Neville had all but given up on studying, opting to bombard Sirius with questions about his parents, and listening with rapt attention to every word he spoke of the two famous Aurors, which had apparently been good friends with the Potters and him.

"I befriended Frank and Alice while working for the Auror department," Sirius explained. "I had known them since school, as they were one year behind us, but James and I never made any attempts at befriending them. We each had our own circle of friends, so we hardly ever spoke while in school, but there was this one mission we had in Bristol…"

Sirius went on about some random adventures of his short lived glory days as an Auror and told the kids of how James and Frank had come to meet once they had both joined Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix.

"Seriously?" Diana asked while wrinkling her nose. "That's the name he gave to his secret organization?"

Sirius shrugged. "What can I say? The old man's a little weird like that."

Though the kids were entertained with the idea of their parents having been part of a secret organization which had dedicated itself to fighting crime ("Kind of like Batman," Diana had suggested to both Sirius and Neville's confusion), they couldn't help but feel slightly resentful to Dumbledore for creating the Order to begin with, seeing as, their parents were now dead or insane because of it.

The mood had worsened from then on, as the two kids had become rather dejected, so Hermione told them about Lupin, in hopes of distraction them, which led them to this conversation.

"Remus is harmless!" Sirius had been quick to jump to the DADA Teacher's defense. "He didn't choose to become a werewolf, a son of a bitch bit him when he was young, but he's never hurt anyone in his life if he could help it!"

Diana's cheeks burned with embarrassment at her early words, while Neville narrowed his eyes at Black.

"If he can help it, is well phrased," the boy said. "Because, the problem is: he can't! When he turns, the wolf takes over! And the wolf will do as it pleases indifferent of what the human side wishes to do or not."

"Remus's never hurt a soul!" Sirius swore vehemently. "He's been taking Wolfsbane Potion to keep himself conscious during the transformations so that he doesn't end up hurting anyone while he changes!"

"How do you know that?" Hermione asked peering up from the book in her lap. She'd been listening in on conversation, but unlike the other two, she hadn't completely given up on scanning through the books they'd taken, and had barely now just decided to drop research in favor of grilling Sirius about their DADA Professor.

"Because Remus and I were best mates," Sirius answered.

"Yes, _were_ best mates, you haven't been such for the last 12 years," Hermione reminded. "How do you know that your best mate's still the same person you once knew? Heaven knows a person can change much in just one year's time, but 12?"

"Not Remus," Sirius assured, still choosing to stubbornly believe in his best friend. He'd stupidly mistrusted him once; he wasn't willing to make the same mistake again!

Hermione gave him a funny look.

"I just know, okay?" Sirius said looking tired. He didn't have the patience to explain his beliefs, and neither did he want to burden the 13 year olds with his problems any more then he already had. At their age, the only thing they should have worried about was failing grades and silly romances, not the broken life of a withering old man.

"So, why haven't you tried talking to him?" Diana asked, regarding Sirius with curiosity. "He's here, at Hogwarts!"

"Sirius's an escaped convict, Diana," Hermione sighed looking annoyed with her friend's silly question. "And furthermore, Professor Lupin believes Sirius responsible for your parent's death! He's not gonna want to catch up on old tales or listen to reason when he finds him!"

"But Sirius is innocent!" Diana protested looking extremely frustrated with the whole ordeal. She just wished she could scream at the world that her Godfather was innocent, so they'd stop with their useless hunt for him and concentrate on catching the real perpetrator instead.

"Professor Lupin doesn't know that," and there was Neville, throwing that loathed excuse at her again. The phrase honestly got on Diana's nerves.

"So why don't we tell him?" the red-haired asked looking exasperated.

"Good luck convincing him of that," Hermione said, and returned to skimming through the books.

Neville and Diana shared a look, and both wordlessly agreed that they would try to convince Lupin of Sirius's innocence. It was high time they worked on clearing up Sirius's name, one nonbeliever at a time, and Remus being his closest friend deserved to know more than anyone else.

-OOOOOOO-

One week, that was all that the kids had for Christmas Break. And the whole week Heidi had spent in the hospital wing, suffering from both a killer fever which had just now come down, and the withdrawal symptoms. Madam Pomfrey had told her it would feel like hell, but she'd refused to believe her, thinking that the nurse was just blowing things out of proportion, like she usually did. It pained her to say that this time the nurse had under-exaggerated things. It felt worse than hell!

For one, she was unable to feed herself, or go to the toilet by herself, because of the damn tremors. Her whole body wouldn't stop shaking for days, and she couldn't hold anything in her shaky hands, or stand on her shaky legs, so Hermione or Madam Pomfrey had to fee her like she was a baby. She frankly couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so humiliated and helpless. It made her cranky, and she'd more often then not snap at whoever was in the room, for the slightest of offence. Her sister and Neville and taken a hint and left her alone after the third day, when she'd hurled abuse at them, and frankly, she was glad for it. The two didn't know what was actually going on, and had therefore come to the wrong conclusion that this was all their fault for dragging Heidi with them to Hogsmeade, and the fact that Madam Pomfrey agreed with them made things worse since the apologetic looks on Diana and Neville's faces made her want to throw her guts out.

She'd snapped at Diggory. On the 30th, right before New Years, the boy had finally manned up and come to see her, only to catch Heidi in the middle of a temper tantrum. Madam Pomfrey had warned him that Heidi was feeling particularly vindictive today, but the boy had refused to leave up until the brunet had all but accused him of preferring Ginny over her. Cedric had left and agreed to not return up until Madam Pomfrey didn't give him the all clear sign, which was just as well for Heidi since she didn't want to see him either.

The most annoying thing was she'd been incapable of sleeping, more rather, floating in between awareness and unconsciousness, and when she'd finally dozed off, she'd snap back awake in the next instance feeling drained and exhausted.

The nights were the worse. She wasn't as aware of the anxiety streaks in the day time, when Madam Pomfrey and Hermione would spend the whole day beside her, keeping her company and annoying her with small-talk, but at night, when no one was around and the shapes and shadows on the wall took on familiar and dreaded form, and when the only sound she could hear for hours was her own heartbeat, which echoed so loud she was certain it might scare the dead awake, that's when she felt the paranoia come on to her. She'd stare at the windows and door for hours on end, holding her breath, body tens and ready to jump off the bed at a moment's notice (Madam Pomfrey had found her sleeping under the bed one day). She didn't know how she sometimes managed to fall asleep (if you could call that sleep), but when she did, in those brief moments of semi-awareness she felt safe as strong and possessive arms wrapped around her figure, and a smooth serpentine voice whispered sweet nothings in her ear, which made her feel like her life wasn't as crappy as she'd thought.

Of course the thought perished the moment she opened her eyes the next day, but those small moments of peace were what kept her sane for the entirety of the first dreaded week, up until one night when, paranoid as she was, she'd reached in the drawer beside her bed, not being able to shake the feeling of dread and hopelessness off her, and pulled out her wand from the drawer.

The moment her fingers landed on the 10 and three quarters piece of wood, it felt like life had been restored to her. Her breathing evened, her hands stopped shaking and her mind felt clearer then it had before as the pleasant feeling of the wand's Magic coursed through her right arm and up through her heart, lungs and traveled all the way up to her brain and the rest of her body. It felt so good to finally be able to think clearly, and see that there was no threat around her, just the night playing its usual scheme which only scared little children for so long till they too realized there was nothing to be afraid of. Heidi felt a soft sigh escape her as she closed her eyes, feeling more relaxed then she had in days and let sleep finally engulf her.

-OOOOOOO-

**AN**: I wanted this chapter to be longer, but this felt like a good place to end it. And, yes, I skipped over Christmas, since there was nothing important going on, Heidi was in the hospital wing suffering from a high fever, and Diana, Neville and Hermione were too worried to celebrate. Luna went back home.

And PS: I'm still looking for a beta reader. If anyone is willing to help.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: The woes of Severus Snape**

For all the joy and happiness the winter season was renowned for bringing, it looked like it would be a horrible break for one Severus Snape. The youngest Potter twin had asked him for Remedial Potions? How in god's name had it come to this?

"I hope, Miss Potter, that you realize it's the winter break therefore, I, myself, alongside most of the Hogwarts Staff, won't be spending the Holidays huddled up in our classes, doing schoolwork."

He wasn't joking. He had a few graves to visit, errands to run and Lucius Malfoy, the only friend he'd kept in contact with since before his teaching days had invited him to dinner, and most likely to get a report about how his son was fairing in school (He honestly pitied his nephew at times, because Lucius might not have physically abused the kid, but he was strict and controlling, and Draco, more than any of his snakes, felt like he had his life already planned out for him, and being a Slytherin meant that he had no real _friends_ he could share his worried with, not even his own Godfather – something which hurt Snape somewhat, but he understood the need for secrecy better than anyone).

"I know," Diana responded, drawing Snape out of his mussing. "I was thinking after Winter Break is over? Maybe…?" The red-haired asked managing to pull off that pleading look of innocence which reminded him of Lily, and Severus knew he couldn't refuse her even if he tried.

"Why the sudden interest in Remedial Potions?" Severus asked. It was no secret to either of them that Diana had displayed no interest in Potions whatsoever; in fact, if Severus remembered correctly, the only time the red-haired did anything other than sulk and glare in his class was in her second year when, for a short amount of time, she'd dated his Godson and had taken to ruining Parkinson's potion because of some petty rivalry the two had over Draco.

"Because I want to become a healer, and Madam Pomfrey told me I had to get an Outstanding in Potions for my OWL," Diana answered bluntly, and Severus could detect no lie in her words. In fact, the girl was among the honest people he'd met, and even without the subtle scanning of the surface of her thoughts he would have believed her; though it still nagged him somewhat that none of Lily's talent and passion for Potions had rubbed off on her daughter, that was more Heidi's thing (though if he were honest, Snape had yet to hear of a subject where the brunet was not naturally gifted at – _so very much like Lily_), it still grated on his nerves that, despite resembling Lily the most, the red haired's personality seemed to lean more towards her good for nothing father, than the mother that he was so fond of.

He'd agreed to the Remedial Potion Lessons over a week ago. And now, here he was, waiting in his office for the red-haired to make her appearance. He'd informed her in his most business-like tome to report to his office at 12 o'clock on Wednesday, and it was a quarter to 12.

There was a soft knock on the door, and, as per expected, the red-haired Potter twin stepped through the door after he beckoned the person to come in.

"Take a seat," he said and pointed to a chair in front of his desk, where a piece of parchment was neatly spread on the table. He'd wasted some of his Winter Break preparing a grill for the girl, wanting to asses her progress on the subject, but they both knew that was unnecessary. The red-haired had never touched a Potions book in her life, she was too scared to touch most of the ingredients required to make even the simplest of potions and she'd never moved a finger while in his classroom, plus the essays were clearly written in her sister's eloquent style, so Severus knew for a fact that the girl had had no tangency with Potions whatsoever, she could hardly be deemed a beginner in the field.

"I have prepared a test for you, in order to asses how behind you are on the subject, where we are to begin your Remedial Potions and which elements you are struggling with most."

Diana sat herself down on the seat indicated by the professor, and tentatively reached out for the parchment on the desk while swallowing nervously. Snape didn't know whether it was shame or pride that prevented the girl to admit outright that she didn't know a thing about Potions, it would certainly save them some time, but the red-haired reached into her school bag and pulled out a quill and an ink-bottle, before returning her sight back to the parchment at hand.

She struggled for half an hour or so, tentatively circling some of the answers, while vehemently trying to avoid looking at Snape, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment every time her eyes would travel lower on the list, before she finally gave up, and timidly pushed the parchment towards Snape, her eyes firmly downcast and shoulders pitifully hunched.

It took Snape merely a minute to glanced over the parts of the parchment which had some ink scrabbles onto them before deeming most of the answers wrong (only one was actually right, and that was obviously a lucky guess, since the girl had failed to elaborate her choice, as the question demanded). He closed his eyes in silent resignation before fixing a hard glare onto the devastated looking girl. She was ashamed of her lack of knowledge. Well, good! It pained him to see Lily's face so downcast and subdues, but then he thought, Lily would never have allowed something like this to happen to her, she had too much ambition and pride for that, she'd burn with embarrassment if she'd lived to see the pitying state that her daughter was in right now, and Severus realized that it was his fault that the red-haired had turned out like this. After all, he was the one who'd ignored her lack of interest in the subject, who'd indulged her every whim, and it was now coming back to bite him in the cruelest way possible. Maybe this embarrassment and guilt was a bridge they both need to cross, in order to realize their mistakes, and Severus had definitely learned his lesson! He was done playing favorites with the girl! She'd either learn or get out of his hair, because he would never be able to face Lily in the next life if he lived through another one of these again.

"Very well, then," He said, casting the parchment aside and pulling out _Potions, a Beginner's Guide _from his drawer. "Let us begin."

-OOOOOOO-

First week of term had been a good one for Heidi. She'd skipped school entirely, but she was actually feeling better and a hell of a lot more energetic then she had in her life. Madam Pomfrey had been astounded by her fast recovery, proclaiming it as a miracle that she felt so well.

"It's like any residue of sleeping draught has been purged from your body," the nurse had exclaimed.

"Purged?" Heidi asked looking apprehensive. She remembered reading about Basilisk venom in her second year, and how it was supposed to purge the life out of your body or something similar, and wondered whether her wand was indeed responsible for her accelerated healing. And whether that was a good thing, or if it would have devastating side effects?

"How did you manage it?" the nurse asked while giving the brunet a scrutinous glare, as if ready to lecture her indifferent of what the answer would be.

"I don't know," Heidi shrugged, trying to appear as innocent as possible. "I was hoping you could tell me."

The nurse glared at her for a few more seconds, before sighing and saying. "I'm not entirely sure. The remedy seems… magical, like some sort of spell or curse gone wrong was cast on you, but my expertise in the department are limited, I'm not aware of any spell which could have this type of effect on you. But, maybe Professor Dumbledore is-"

"NO!" Heidi shrieked at once at the mention of Dumbledore's name. "You promised you wouldn't tell!"

"I'm aware of that!" the nurse snapped. "But we can't just ignore this! If we don't know what's causing it, there's no way to determine if what's happening is good for you or bad. Who knows if this isn't a symptom of something worse to come! We have to examine this new development closely."

"Fine," Heidi had agreed looking irritated. "Do more tests, but don't get Dumbledore involved."

The nurse had reluctantly agreed to not inform the Headmaster of Heidi's problem (not that she'd had a choice in the matter to begin with, what with the vow and all), but after a few more days of testing and dotting over the brunet, she was forced to conclude that the brunet was in remarkable shape for someone who'd been suffering from withdrawal only a week prior, and, begrudgingly released her that Sunday afternoon.

-OOOOOOO-

Diana's cheeks were still burning, even after almost a week. The shame she'd felt while sitting in Snape's office and facing that piece of parchment filled with names and side-effects and properties she'd never even heard of refused to leave her.

"I think, Miss Potter, that it would be easier if I treat you like a newcomer in this subject. It pains me to say that I am disappointed with you. I was hoping that throughout the countless hours of fidgeting and doodling off in my class you might have_ accidentally_ caught some piece of knowledge in between, but it seams I have overestimated your interest in my subject." He glared her down, disappointment written all over his face. "If you are indeed serious about these lessons, then, I shall expect your activity in class to reflect your interest. Fail to do so and you will be punished accordingly!"

She'd know for quite some time now that Snape was one of those teachers capable of infuriate any student and making them feel like the worse of scum, but, despite having seen him bully Neville, Hermione and so many others, her brain had somehow found it difficult to piece Snape - the bully, with the Snape that she knew, who never picked on her, never gave her a second glare, never bothered her even when she was slacking off in his class, no mater how unbearable she became, he seemed content to ignoring her very existence. But now, things got a little different. He'd kept to his word and on that Friday he'd been merciless. He'd moved her to a lone table at the front of the class and had done nothing but hover behind her back and spluttered snarky remarks and pointers every time she made the slightest of mistakes. And, with Diana being her usually clumsy self, and not having opened a potion book in her life, or done any research up until that Wednesday, Shape had quite a lot to pick on. She dreaded to think how things had gone had Tom not suddenly decided to stop resenting her for – well, she wasn't actually sure what he resented her for, but she was grateful he'd decided to help her with a few pointers, because she was proving to be worse at Potions than Neville had ever been (she'd managed to blow up three cauldrons, even with Snape hovering around her back like an overgrown bat).

Each and every one of Snape's belittling still echoed in Diana's mind as she silently followed Neville, Hermione and Heidi to Professor Lupin for their Anti-Dementor lessons, and frankly she was dejected and feeling a little bit out of hope. Last week the professor had demonstrated the wand movement and spell that they needed to perform, and had promised to let them practice on a Bogart this week, much to the kids' apprehension.

"Ah! Good afternoon children!" Professor Lupin greeted jovially as they entered the History of Magic classroom (since that was the one Lupin had arranged for their private meeting).

There was a wooden crate on the desk that kept squirming ever so slightly every now and then, and sometimes, a loud bang could be heard from the inside and the crate would bounce a few inches in the air as the creature inside banged against the walls of its confinement. It seemed like professor Lupin had found his Boggart, and the kids were, unluckily not spared from this encounter.

"I've been combing the castle ever since Tuesday, and very luckily, I found this one lurking inside Mr. Filch's filing cabinet." Lupin patted the crate lightly. "It's the nearest we'll get to a real Dementor. The Boggart will turn into a Dementor when it sees you, so we'll be able to practice on it."

"That might not work for Neville," Hermione pointed out. "Or me, or Heidi for that matter! The last time we cam face to face with a Boggart, it turned into Professor McGonagall for me, Professor Snape for Neville and You-Know-Who for Heidi. None of us fear Dementors to that extreme."

"At that point, I'm sure you didn't," Lupin agreed. "But if I remember correctly, you came to me asking for Anti-Dementor lessons after the Dementors attacked you after the Quidditch Match had ended. I'm certain that your fears might have shifted somewhat after that incident, if only for one or two of you," at this Lupin's eyes trailed on Diana and Heidi, before he continued. "And, if that is the case, for at least one of you, the image of a Dementor, even from afar, should be enough to help you concentrate."

"Well, we won't know until we try, so let's get this started," Heidi said looking lively, though slightly cautious. Hermione had to wonder what got her friend into such a good mood, seeing as she'd never once stopped bouncing since being released from the hospital wing. Hermione was somewhat glad for it, since that meant that she was itching to catch up with her studies and had, unknown to her, helped Hermione stay on track with her own studies, seeing as, she'd managed to fall behind because, ever since the second semester had started the teachers were pilling homework on them like mad. But Hermione was still worried, the girl was too hipped up for her own good, and her fast recovery was still a mystery to the brown-haired.

"Alright. I'm glad you're all hipped up for today's lesson; and I'm hoping, Heidi, that the others have filled you in on the wand movement and theory from last session?" Lupin enquired.

"Yes! Hermione has been very thorough," Heidi assured.

Lupin smiled. "Very well then. Let us begin!"

He indicated that one of the kids make their way towards the crate while he backed up to the corner on the far left.

"Keep in mind the counter spell to use on a Boggart," Lupin instructed. "Just in case."

The kids nodded and, all looking worried at the crate on the desk, played a quick unfair game of Rock-Paper-Scissors, to see who'd get to try first. Hermione lost, three times in a row. And the probability of that happening was very slim given the fact that there were four people in the game, only three options and each of the three options was supposed to beat one of the other two, all going in a loop. It was very unlikely for a winner to emerge out of a three way duel, but 4 –

And Heidi gave her a shove forward while wishing her a hearty Good-Luck, while Diana and Neville both smiled encouragingly at her. Hermione gave them all a resentful glare, before turning around and facing the now eerily silent crate.

"Are you ready?" Professor Lupin asked, and Hermione wanted to scream that: No! She was not ready! She felt anything but ready! And she was certain that the three stooges who she'd deemed friends had somehow conspired to make her loose a game which, in theory, couldn't be lost! Not like she'd lost! Not 3 times in a row! The three must have cheated!

"Expecto Patronum!" Hermione mumbled under her breath, trying to remember the correct pronunciation of the spell, and in doing so, forgot about the fact that she was supposed to be thinking of a happy memory, up until Lupin spelled open the lit of the crate.

Hermione's heart filled with dread as a shadow emerged from the crate, and she furiously tried to recall a happy memory to use against the creature, but it seemed her struggled were in vain. The Boggart did not take the shape of a Dementor. It was professor McGonagall again, shouting at the top of her lungs that she'd failed every subject on her list.

She panicked.

She knew that this Professor McGonagall wasn't real, but that still didn't change the fact that the notion of failing every class terrified her. And with the brilliant way this semester had started, it was proving hard for Hermione to think she'd make it without failing miserably at everything.

"Ridicullum!" Heidi chanted, and when the beam of light made contact with the Boggart-McGonagall, its attire shifted, and her Transfiguration's teacher was suddenly clothed in a ballerina style dress, with the shortest of mini-skirts, sporting a tail and cat like ears. When the Boggart attempted to speak, only a soft meow escaped her lips, and that was the last straw.

Hermione laughed. She laughed so hard she felt her sides hurting, and distinctly remarked Neville and Diana guffawing at her side as the Boggart flushed in embarrassment and fled for its crate once more.

Professor Lupin was still laughing as he closed the lids on the crate, but managed to compose himself a few seconds after.

"I don't think I'll ever be able to look Minerva in the eye again without bursting into fits of laughter," he shuck his head and attempted to smother a laugh. "Well, who wants to try next? Miss Granger's Boggart might not have been a Dementor, but that's not to say that either of yours won't be."

Neville offered to try next, and, unfortunately for them, his Boggart was still Professor Snape, and the poor boy barely managed to cast the ridiculum spell properly before Snape got within inches of him, all the while berating him for how stupid and useless he was.

Diana, frankly, thought that her Boggart too, would turn up to be Snape, after all, she did resent the oversized bat at the moment, but she didn't actually get to find out, because her sister took her turn, and at the sight of Voldemort (or a disgusting looking figure clad in a long overcoat with blood dripping from its mouth and rotten flesh reaching out for them), her breath hitchhiked in her throat. There were certainly things more terrifying than Dementors, Snape or failing grades out there, and she most definitely hoped with all her heart that she'd never have to face them. Ever!

Heidi froze, her breathing becoming erratic as she sunk to the floor and only managed to compose herself barely ten minutes before Lupin dismissed them, as a beam of pure white light emerged from her right.

It was a ghostly figure, shining brightly before her very eyes. A gentle calming feel spread through Heidi at the sight of it, the silhouette tentatively taking the shape of a bird of some kids. _A doe_, Heidi realized. It crouched, spread its wings and took to the air, heading straight for the cloaked figure which looked vaguely familiar, and pushed the figure back to the crate which was resting neatly on the table. Once accomplished its task, the doe flew back towards its respectful owner, her sister, Heidi realized, and gently faded out of sight before Diana could reach out and touch the bird of light.

"That was _amazing_ Diana," Professor Lupin breathed out, beaming with pride.

Diana smiled a radiant smile back at the Professor. "Thank you sir!"

"That was _beautiful_!" Hermione gushed and began to clap.

Neville soon joined in: "Stunning!" he breathed.

"Well done sis," Heidi said, feeling herself suddenly reinvigorated at the sight of her sister's patronus. It was a form of childish glee that filled Heidi at the sight of the beautiful white doe pushing back the cloaked dark figure, just like in a kids' fairy tale, where good was represented by light and bad was supposed to be and endless darkness, and good always defeated bad. Childish, and she somewhat felt silly for indulging in the feeling, because she knew that real life wasn't that simple, or at the very least, that's what she thought, but seeing the small and fragile doe battle a large and menacing shadow and win, well, that kind of gave her hope, in a strange, infantile sort of way.

Diana was bouncing up and down with excitement, looking happier then she had in days, as Lupin congratulated her again.

"What memory did you use?" Neville asked curiously, and Heidi, Hermione and Lupin's heads all turned towards the red-haired expectantly.

Diana's smile suddenly vanished off her face, as her cheeks turned bright red and her eyes became very interested in a crack in the floor as she shyly answered: "My birthday, when we went to the amusement park right before our first year at Hogwarts."

Heidi narrowed her eyes and crossed her hands over her chest, while pinning her sister down with a hard glare. She was obviously lying! But the other three were either too considerate to press further (Hermione and Lupin's case), or bought the lie (Neville). She was neither, and would, later, nag her sister mercilessly until she talked ("Alright! Gish, you're impossible! I was thinking of the time I kissed T- I mean, a boy. And, no! It was not Draco! I am _so_ over that prat so don't give me that look!")

Lupin dismissed them soon after, assuring them that they'd be practicing without a Boggart next time, something which thrilled the kids. Diana felt slightly invigorated. If she did so well in DADA, maybe not all was lost for her Potion skills. Maybe all she needed to do was concentrate a little more and she'd prevail in that subject as well.

-OOOOOOO-

She couldn't have been more wrong, as she learned that following Friday.

Snape had been horrible! He'd belittled her every step of the way. One meager hour in Potions and Diana'd managed to lose a total of 20 house points, and no matter how good she was in Charms, and how much she strived to recover the points, she was still a little dejected to win back more than 10 points from Professor Flitwich (and she had a feeling that the professor was a little reluctant to give her any more points for one lesson). What was worse, Parvati and Lavender had gotten wind of her Remedial Potions Lessons (which was bound to happen sooner or later, but she'd honestly preferred if it was later, much latter), and had spread the news like wildfire around the school (she honestly wanted to strangle them).

Lunch was going to be horrible, she was sure. She had half a mind not to go, but Heidi had threatened to drag her if she refused. So, here she was, with Heidi (that awful sister of hers!), Hermione (who was trying way too hard to cheer her up) and Neville (who was attempting to rescue her from Hermione's nagging), making their way down the corridor to lunch, when they stumbled upon a peculiar sight.

"Is that Luna?" Diana enquired, hoping to get Hermione's attention off her for a few moments.

It worked! Hermione curiously turned her attention towards the farther side of the corridor, where, indeed, a tiny girl, with dirty-blond hair and no socks, or shoos on her feet was motionlessly standing by as a group of students (all Ravenclaws from what Diana could see) surround her. The scene somehow didn't bode well with Diana, even though she couldn't hear a word that was said, and the student's were Ravenclaws, so maybe they were talking about forming a study group and nothing sinister was going one; but the way their bodies were angled, as if trying to entrap the younger girl in between themselves and the wall, their faces all bearing twisted smiles, and their cruel eyes all trailed on the small girl in front of them, had Diana and her companions rushing forward at full speed. They managed to catch glimpses of the conversation as they approached, and so far, it wasn't budding to well for Diana's study group theory.

"Seen any Snorkaxes yet Loony?"

"Is that father of yours still wasting resources for that awful piece of paper he writes?"

"How'd you sleep last night? The cold finally snapped some sense into your brain?"

"Get away from her!" Someone boomed at the assembled crowd, and surprisingly, it wasn't Diana. It was Neville, and the look on his face drew a cold shiver down Diana's back. He looked mutinous as he pushed his way through the crowd and stopped to stand in front of Luna, shielding her from her assailants.

The girls backed up a little; even that one boy, who looked proud and cookie, lost his lopsided grin. They looked quite scared of Neville, if Diana were to be hones. And why shouldn't they be? After all, Neville (although some people might forget at times, what with his clumsy attitude and smiling demeanor), had quite the reputation around Hogwarts, as being the student who'd killed a Basilisk in his second year. Diana remembered all too well the rumors that started flying around last year, and how Neville, her kind, generous and incredibly loyal friend, had started receiving looks of admiration, wonder and, sometimes, _fear_ from the general population of Hogwarts. Fred and George had helped defuse things by pranking Neville for a week (something which the boy was not at all grateful for), but it had done the job, and come September, everyone had started treating Neville the same way they'd always done…. well, maybe there was a bit more respect bubbling in their voices now when they addressed him, but nothing too out of place (well, except maybe for Snape. He treated Neville the same as always and that one only helped to increase student's weariness of Snape rather than Neville).

Diana had through it all just a pile of nonsense, after all, this was _Neville_ they were talking about, Basilisk killer or not, the boy was harmless. Or so she thought, because the glare he directed on the group of students as he crossed his arms over his chest and raised his nose up high, like there was something foul in the air he was trying to avoid, made him look quite menacing and (dare she say it?) _intimidating_ that Diana finally understood where all the wacky rumors that Neville could kill a hoard of Dementors with his bare hands came from.

Neville made a point to glare down each of the five individual members of the group, as if daring them to try and use their silly little bullying techniques on him as he uttered just one small, silent word: "Leave."

The Ravenclaws were stuck gaping silently for a moment as through they'd misheard Neville's request (it sounded more like an order if you asked Diana), but the moment Diana, Heidi and Hermione joined Neville, all three girls glaring down on them, the group seemed to recover some of their bold demeanor. That is until her sister spoke:

"Don't make me repeat his statement!" Heidi said, and no one could mistake the threatening edge to her voice. "And if you ever come near Luna again, I'll make sure Madam Pomfrey is occupied for the next month and a half trying to get you in a stable enough condition to breath on your own! Got it sweetheart?"

It didn't matter that most of the girls looked to be about two years above them, or that they were drastically outnumbered, Heidi was known to be the only student who could fight on par with a teacher (Snape), Diana's overpowered spells and hot-headedness was legendary, Hermione was a teacher favorite and dubbed the brightest witch of her age by the Great Albus Dumbledore himself, and Neville was a Basilisk killer. The reputation of one of the quarter alone was enough to make the hair on the back of people's head stand up, but all four of them, glaring threateningly at the assembled crowd, was enough to have the Ravenclaws scurrying off as if Death itself was after them.

"Cowards!" Diana whispered.

"Are you alright Luna?" Hermione asked kindly, and everyone's attention was redirected to the young girl, who'd failed to move an inch since the whole debacle had started.

"I'm fine," Luna answered in her monotone voice.

"No, you're not!" Heidi snapped, fixing Luna with a disapproving glare. "It's freezing cold and you're dressed in this flimsy jacket and aren't wearing any shoos! How come you aren't freezing to death?"

The rest of the quartet remarked that Heidi was right, and if you scrutinized the blond girl close enough, you'd notice the small tremor which regularly shock her body and the stiff poise and brave facade she was putting on as she tried to appear nonchalant and distracted.

"Come here!" Neville ordered and pulled out his jacked to wrap it around the freezing girl.

"What happened?" Diana demanded, a warning edge to her voice told Luna that there was no point in trying to lie her way out of this one or there'd be consequences. It didn't stop her from trying though.

"I've misplaced my shoos," she said and shrugged nonplussed.

"I'll bet you misplaced your jacket and socks as well!" Heidi shot back bitingly.

Diana's looked turned to one of pure disbelief. "Did those girls take your stuff?" she asked sounding disgusted.

"No, I-" Luna tied to say, but Hermione interrupted.

"That's horrible!" She gushed. "We have to inform Professor Flitwick! And maybe even Professor Dumbledore!"

"No, please! I-" Luna begged.

Heidi was watching her intently now, as if waiting for a reaction, as Neville picked her up the floor.

"I'll take her to Madam Pomfrey! She's freezing cold!"

Hermione nodded. "I'll go for professor Dumbledore!"

"And I'm going to Professor Flitwick!" Diana said and made to head for the Marble Stairway.

"STOP!"

The shout echoed through the corridor freezing them all in place. Luna struggled out of Neville's grip looking extremely aggravated and said:

"Maybe it's alright for you to be the center of attention, but have you ever stopped to consider that that wasn't preferable for anyone else!"

It came out straggled and horsed, but everyone heard it, and everyone saw the look of desperation, fear and confusion on Luna's face and gaped at her. It was the first time any of them had seen her look this emotional, this awake, this alive that it shocked them to core. Well, three of them at least, because Heidi was standing there with a sly smile, a distinctly raised eyebrow and hands folded above her chest, looking as if she'd proven a point that she was trying to make all along; and it was this, more than anything else that brought Luna back to her senses. Her face was composed in that dreamy like expression once more, but she was still doing a damn hard job trying to avoid looking at Heidi, for her to appear nonchalant.

Hermione was the first of the quartet to recover.

"I'm sorry Luna," she said earnestly. "It was not our intention to upset you, or impose ourselves upon you! We were only trying to help."

Luna honestly doubts that of Heidi, but she was certain that the other three genuinely wanted to help her, so she hurriedly tried to reassure: "No, it's alright! I'm grateful - "

_Damn!_

"Grateful for what? For saving you from the bullies or for trying to help you get your things back?" And of course Heidi wouldn't miss that opportunity! Though Luna wouldn't have believed her to be one for direct attacks, she looked more like the one who'd sneak behind your back and stab you when you were least expecting it… which would explain why the brunet was being so forceful with the issue. And what was she trying to prove anyway?

"Heidi!" Hermione reprimanded, looking none too pleased with the brunet's bluntness. She, just like Neville and Diana suspected that Luna was being bullied by her housemates, and that they had gone as far as to steal her stuff and force her to walk around in this cold weather in such flimsy attire, but that was no reason to corner the poor girl when she was this distressed and ask for an explanation. Heidi glared at Hermione, and looked just about ready to start a fight, so Diana chose to intervene.

"Luna! How bout you come with me to my dorm and I'll lend you some shoes and a jacket you can wear until you find your own stuff?" Diana asked helpfully, but also, desperately. She was trying to defuse the situation, and hoped Luna was observant enough to help her out, and being the smart girl that she was, Luna did and nodded gratefully.

"Excellent idea!" Neville butt in. "Diana has some pretty fancy clothes up there, so you can bet that you won't be disappointed with what you find! Why don't you two go on up and we'll head off to Lunch. Heidi, have I told you how the Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff match went?"

Neville grabbed Heidi by the hand and began leading her towards the marble stairway, with Hermione in toe, as Diana grabbed Luna and dragged her towards the general direction of Gryffindor tower.

-OOOOOOO-

On the way to lunch, the trio stumbled upon Angelina Jonson, who came to thank Heidi for lending her the Firebolt for their match with Hufflepuff, and who alongside Neville entertained Heidi with gossip and a thorough reenactment of the game. Remarkably, Gryffindor had scored a number of 120 points. Hufflepuff had won the game with 200 points, but seeing as 150 of those were brought one by Diggory's catching the snitch, it didn't speak much for the team as a whole. The three observers had actually scolded the Hufflepuff team for their inefficiency and poor strategy, not to mention a "Lack of any real back-bone" as put by Connor Broadmoor, the Captain of the Falmouth Falcons.

"We weren't let off the hook either," Angelina confessed. "They told us that as a team, we're strong, but we lack a key element to make the team truly spectacular."

Heidi knew they were them being kind so as to not offend Ginny, because it was obvious from what she'd hear of the game and from what she knew of her team that the missing key factor was a good Seeker, which Ginny wasn't.

"Yet she managed to keep Cedric distracted enough to let you guys score 120 points?" Heidi whistled looking truly impressed. She had to admit that spoke somewhat in her favor, especially considering the age difference, experience, and skill. No, Ginny wasn't a good Seeker, but she was a good Chaser, so she did everything she could to keep Diggory chasing around after her instead of looking for the Snitch, while her team scored as many points as they could, and that was saying something.

But that ploy wouldn't last with Ravenclaw who'd scored 80 points in their match with Slytherin (the snakes had won with 190 and were sitting neatly in second place, with the tree representatives praising them for their strategies and maneuvers). Yes, Cho was almost as rubbish as Ginny was, but the team was tactically flawless (the representatives had spent quite some time praising the Ravenclaws for their flawless team effort, even Cho for doing a better role at distracting Draco then Ginny had Cedric). Those guys liked to play smart and to win, so no amount of bullshitting from Ginny would be enough to deter Cho from her pursue of the Snitch, especially now when they knew what Ginny's role and strategy was.

Angelina was trying her best not to outright ask Heidi if she'd recover in time for the game, and Heidi was wondering if she might, but seeing as Madam Pomfrey hadn't declared her fit to take to the skies again, she didn't want to bring Angelina's hopes up for nothing. Hermione was quick to rush to her rescue and ask Heidi if she'd accompany her to the bathroom, and she gratefully followed her friend while Angelina and Neville headed for the Great Hall. She distinctly noted that Hermione was being overly jumpy today, and rushing a little too fast for this to be all about Angelina, and turned just in time to see Draco Malfoy standing in front of the great double doors, shooting their retreating backs a peculiar glance. Heidi couldn't quite place the emotion on his face, but she definitely understood Hermione's rush to get away from him. Draco was, after all, horrible to the poor girl who'd done nothing to deserve his ire (as far as she knew), so she shrugged the matter off as Hermione having a low self-esteem, or just wanting to avoid a confrontation. But the matter kept bugging her.

At lunch, she noticed Hermione was being overly cuddly with Ron for some reason. So much so that Diana (who'd arrived with Luna in toe a few minutes ago), leaned in to quietly voice her concerns over her friends mannerism. Hermione settled down after Diana pointed out McGonagall and her disapproving glare, and Ron looked sorely displeased. Neville was seated a wile back with Ginny, who looked slightly dejected (probably over her bad prestation at the games), and Cedric Diggory was making his way over to their table.

"Hi, Heidi! Can we talk?"

Heidi resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him, and slowly rose from her seat. It was inevitable that this would happen, but she honestly didn't want to do this now. Especially not when she, herself hadn't figured out how she felt about the argument they'd had the last time they'd spoken, or his performance at the re-match.

"So, are you back to ignoring me again, or have you really just been too busy to talk to me?" Cedric asked the moment they were alone.

Heidi honestly though that an unfair question, after all, she wasn't the one ignoring him.

_Oh, but you are_. A slick slithery voice whispered in the back of her mind, and Heidi stomped it, because it was ridiculous! Why should she be avoiding Diggory? She had nothing to hide.

"I haven't been avoiding you," she told him bluntly. "Though I might have though that after your conduct at the Quidditch Match last week you might want to avoid me."

That came out a little scratchier then she might have intended it, but she was right to be mad at him.

"Why would you think that?" Cedric asked sounding genuinely confused.

"Because you played horribly!" Heidi blurred out, and immediately regretted the words, but there was nothing she could do to take them back. "I mean, that's what the others keep telling me…"

A flicker of pain and regret crossed Cedric's expression and the boy lowered his eyes to the ground.

"Yeah," he said sadly. "That seems to be the general opinion."

Damn, that hurt-puppy-dog look didn't sit too well with Heidi, but she figured he deserved the guilt-trip. Maybe next time he'd do better!

"Well, you won, so you couldn't have been all that bad," she said, as a half hearted attempts at getting his mood back up.

"No, that's not true. I did play bad," Cedric admitted. "I got distracted for almost and hour! The three reps weren't even trying to hide their displeasure with me. And after canceling the game last time… well, let's just say if they do decide to pick a Seeker from our teams, it won't be me."

Heidi felt awfully sorry as she listen to Cedric confess his inner turmoil, and yet, there was a strange and jarring part of her brain that felt incredibly elated at hearing him suffer.

_Serves him right!_

_What the hell is going on with me?_ Heidi suddenly started wondering. _This is Cedric I'm thinking about! The guy I like! Why on earth am I being this mean towards him?_

"Heidi!" Cedric's angry voice snapped her out of her daze.

"What?" Heidi snapped in return.

"Did you hear a word I just said?"

"No! I was too absorbed with my own thought to worry about you!" Okay, that definitely didn't sound good, and Heidi was certain she was not meant to say that last part out loud, only _think _about it, but, apparently, her brain wasn't functioning properly today.

Cedric looked stunned at that last thought, his mouth opened up like that of a gold fish after he'd been pulled from the water and left to die on the shore.

"I'm sorry for wasting your time with my personal dilemmas, I'll be sure to remember that next time we talk," Cedric said and shock his head as if trying to shake off the shock as he slowly turned to walk away from her.

"No! Cedric, I didn't mean it like that!" Heidi was quick to rush in front of him looking apologetic. "It's the weather! And my anemia! It's got me extremely cranky and short fuelled! Honestly, I don't know what came over me back then! But you surely know I didn't mean it!"

Cedric shot Heidi a mistrusting gaze then sighed.

"I apologize," he said sincerely. "I'd forgotten about your condition. Now is not the place or the time for such serious conversation, and I wouldn't want to keep you out here in the cold on an empty stomach." He gently pulled his arms around Heidi and pulled her in for a hug as he gave her a smile, but somehow, the smile didn't quite reach his ears. "Come one, let's go inside," he gestured towards the Great Hall.

"Oh, no!" Heidi said stubbornly as she held on to him and kept him in place. "I like it here! And I'm not that hungry, so how bout you tell me what's on your mind? I promise I won't miss a word!" and she struggled to do so, despite the nagging voice in the back of her head which kept throwing insults at the boy, and herself apparently. Weird.

"There really is no point in us staying out here," Cedric assured her. "I've got nothing to tell you."

"Liar!" Heidi accused and she wasn't sorry for it either. "You were mad just a moment ago because I wasn't listening to you, so you obviously have something to tell me."

"No, it's really nothing," Cedric assured.

"I'll give you a kiss if you tell me!" Heidi teased, and felt as if a whole part of her brain just froze in shock at what she'd spluttered out of her mouth. And seriously, why should she… it or whatever other noun people used to referee to a portion of the brain. Honestly, she'd done things like this before! She wasn't above them, and her brain should know better!

"I'm afraid you'll give me a punch instead if I do tell you," Cedric said, interrupting her internal monolog. Those seemed to be happening more frequently now that she thought about it…

"And why is that?" she asked teasingly, throwing a big mischievous grin the boy's way, which, as expected, melted his stormy expression and a slight smile began tugging at his face.

"You really don't want to know," Cedric said as a half hearted attempt at warning her from finding out the horrible truth.

"And you really don't want to try me!" Heidi warned doing a very good impresion of a severe looking McGonagall, but the smile that broke off just a few seconds later ruined the effect. "Come on, tell me!" She resolved to down right whinnying like a little kid.

Cedric laughed and petted her head, trying to complace her, as he said: "Alright! Alright! You win! I'll tell you!" he assured and laughed lightly as he shot her a warm smile; which for some reason turned sad in the next second. "I was thinking," he began saying slowly. "That maybe, Quidditch isn't for me." He blurred out bluntly and stared questioningly into Heidi's eyes as if waiting for a reaction; though he was waiting in vain, because, while only a half of Heidi's brain froze the first time around, this time, all of her neurologic activity seamed to have frozen solid.

"Are you serious?" Heidi asked looking skeptic, as if Cedric was playing a really bad joke on her and she, for one, wasn't finding it remotely funny.

"Yes, Heidi, I'm serious," Cedric said determined.

"Does this have something to do with Ginny?" Heidi asked, the amalgam of all her problems walking on two legs popped up as an immediate excuse to justify this disaster.

"No! It's got nothing to do with Weasley!" Cedric was quick to assure, a little too quick if you ask Heidi. "Or, at the very least, it's not her fault entirely" the boy stammer, unsure of his wording. "I've come to realize that, maybe, I'm not the best Captain for my team, and that the decisions that I make will affect them all, and I won't be the only one persecuted for this, and -"

"So, you're just gonna give up on them?" Heidi asked venomously, glaring disgusted at Cedric.

"No, it's not like that!" Cedric tried to insist.

"It's exactly like that! You're giving up on them when they need you most just cause you've fallen in a wave of self pity because some potential team sponsors badmouthed your prestation once!"

"It wasn't once, it was two time, and I'm only doing it because I'm reluctant to drag them down with me!" Cedric insisted, but that was the last straw for Heidi.

"Then man-up and be the Captain your team deserves!" she snapped in his face, glaring reproachfully at him. Cedric was left speechless after that, seaming to have reached an impasse over whether to argue with Heidi or agree with her, but Heidi really didn't care, she stormed out of there without looking back. If Cedric wanted to be a coward, then he could dang right go ahead and be one, but she was certainly _not_ stick around to see it!

-OOOOOOO-

Hermione was quick to take remark of her foul mood as Heidi rejoined them for Lunch, and hastily proposed a walk outdoors to take their mind off of thing. She said goodbye to Ron, giving him a quick peach on the cheek, and grabbed Heidi and Diana by the arm, and made her way towards the giant Double doors.

Admittedly not one of her better ideas since Heidi had been hospitalized for 2 weeks, and had even skipped last week's Herbology lesson because Madam Pomfrey had warned her against going outside, so the cold winter air didn't do her much good. She nearly fell off her feet, but luckily Hermione caught her just in the knick of time.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Hermione was quick to realize her mistake, and Diana groaned beside her.

"Hermione! Madam Pomfrey didn't give her permission to go outside!" Diana chastised.

"Yes, I've just remembered myself! And if you want to make yourself useful, try to think of these things beforehand! After all, you're the one who wants to become a doctor," Hermione snapped feeling a little short fuelled herself. Heidi honestly wondered why that was as she saw Diana quickly make her way on her other side and helped steady her on her feet, and Heidi was suddenly feeling very claustrated.

"Both of you get off now!" the brunet shrieked, and the two girls were fast to comply. "I'm not a baby that needs to be dotted over! I can walk on my own! And I most certainly don't need anyone's permission to go outside!"

She stubbornly began making her way towards Hagrid's hut and ignored Hermione, Diana and Neville's protests against going. Honestly! She was fine!

Luna happily trotted after them and successfully distracted the other kids off her back by mentioning Fluffy.

Ah, Luna, such a sweet and innocent girl; but way too spineless for her own good, especially when it came to things that mattered. Just thinking about the little blond girl walking behind them annoyed the living hell out of her, because it reminded her of that one time when she'd snapped at Dudley in kindergarten because she'd found him beating up a little boy with his friend Dennis. She'd really had a row with him that time, and that stupid Dennis had actually tried to threaten her. Well, mad at her or not, Dudley wouldn't let him get away with that and the two had started fighting. It got so bad that Vernon had to step in, and that's how Heidi had learned to stay out of their business, and they'd decided to avoid her whenever they were up to no good.

Yeah, she really hated Luna. Weak, meager, spineless little Luna Lovegood. She hated week people in general, including Diggory, as of today.

They were walking ahead of her now, merrily chatting among each other, and she wasn't going to stick around to see them, she had other things on her mind, so she quietly slipped away, without them noticing; and when they would notice, it's not like they'd know where to look. Well, good! There was something about them that she couldn't quite face, like their cheerful demeanor, their happy smiles and their sympathizing with Ginny.

Yes, Ginevra Weasley, the thorn in her side since she'd been on the addiction potion. Frankly, she'd thought her a sweet girl in second year, and more importantly, Neville had a crush on her, so she figured, yeah, she could put up with the red haired if it was for Neville's sake. But then she found out that the silly girl had a crush on her boyfriend. And that's when things got foul, because he was already taken, so what business did she have to continuously crush on a guy that was beyond her reach? Honestly, talk about no self esteem! She should have moved on! But she didn't! She persisted, and now, it seemed that somehow, she'd managed to get on Cedric's good side. Got him to save her once, reschedule the match for her and now managed to stall his catching of the Snitch! Heidi wondered how she'd managed that? Well, she was certain it had something to do with Cedric being to preoccupied looking at Ginevra's ass to find the Snitch! But that was none of her business anymore, she was done with pretty-but-spineless boy Diggory. If she wanted him, the bitch could have him, she didn't care.

_No, really, I _don't_ care! _She told herself firmly; yet, somehow, she couldn't make herself believe it.

Heidi came to a sudden stop when a door suddenly materialized in front of her, and she realized that her feet had wondered off towards the Quidditch pitch. What was she doing here? Oh, right! She remembered deciding to leave her group to themselves as she went of to check on her Firebolt. It was silly, she realized, checking out on a broom, but, right now, as she made her way towards the broom closed where she knew her prized position was at, she realized that she didn't care much, if at all. That broom was the best gift she'd received, literary she'd got nothing better, nothing more that she so desperately wanted, or needed as much as that broom. She really had to thank Sirius for it later. Whatever might be the reason he'd gotten her the broom, she was grateful.

And there it was! Her prized little Firebolt, sitting neatly in the broom closed, just waiting to be taken out for a ride. She suddenly felt giddy, as she grabbed the handle of the broom and admired the craftsmanship.

"Heidi? Is that you?"

Crap, someone had caught here!

"Yep," she answered cheerily as she turned around to face the speaker and tried to hide the broom behind her back. It was Cho Chang, Ravenclaw's Seeker.

"What are you doing here?" Cho asked.

"Retrieving something I loaned to someone," Heidi answered nonchalantly. "What about you?"

"We have practice for our match with Hufflepuff," Cho said. "I just came to get a bottle of water. The Coach is training us like slaves and as cold as it might be outside, that still doesn't take away the thirst."

"I see," Heidi nodded, and waited for her to walk away, but Cho didn't. She fidgeted awkwardly from one foot to another, and seemed to be struggling with something, and Heidi was really short fueled today.

"Just ask," she told the other girl.

"What?" Cho asked seaming genuinely surprised.

"You've yet to leave. And seeing as we're not friends, or acquaintances of any kind outside of the Quidditch Pitch, I'm guessing you have something you want to ask me. And I'm guessing it relates to Quidditch."

Cho regarded her thoughtfully for a while as she slowly began nodding her head. "The problem is, I don't know if it's worth it," the girl said.

"Excuse me?" Heidi asked not really getting where that statement came from.

"You're right," Cho admitted. "It's about Quidditch. My team Captain saw you enter the stadium and pestered me to come talk to you. But I told him it would be no use; meaning that, although you might not be on the Gryffindor team anymore, I doubt you'd sell out your former team mates."

For some reason that statement annoyed Heidi to no end.

"I'm on leave! I haven't quit the team yet! Ginny's a reserve! That position of team Seeker is still mine!" she snapped venomously.

"I'm sorry!" Cho was quick to apologize. "I didn't mean to upset you!" she assured.

"I'm certain you didn't!" Heidi snapped back. "And, you're right. I wouldn't sell my team!" And with that angry retort, Heidi stormed out of the Quidditch stadium Firebold held firmly in hand.

_The nerve of that girl!_ She couldn't believe she had the gale to suggest that Heidi'd quit the team! She'd show her! She'd show them all that they were wrong!

Heidi stubbornly mounted her broom.

_You shouldn't do thins!_ There was a nagging voice in the back of her head. _You're not ready for this!_ And a burning sensation against her chest as she felt the golden locket around her neck weighing her down.

"Oh, go to hell!" she snapped at the voice, not caring if there was anyone around to see her and kicked off the ground.

And nearly doubled over as her eyesight became blurry and her stomach began churning threatening to spill out all her lunch right there on the spot.

_You should go back down!_ That annoying voice kept pestering her.

"No, I think it's time for you to shut up!" Heidi snapped moodily as she tried, and finally managed to level her broom. "See! I can still do this!"

_Obviously! You're a natural at Flying, but that doesn't mean you're fit to do so yet! Heidi, go back!_

Heidi chuckled. The voice was really getting impatient.

"Why?" she asked tauntingly. "What are you going to do to me if I don't?" she leaned forward, but the broom took off at a much faster speed then she was expecting, and she was suddenly feeling very dizzy. It took her a lot longer to level the broom this time.

_I think the actual problem here is what _you_ might do to yourself. Head back Heidi!_

"No!" Heidi refused vehemently. "You're just a stupid voice in my head. You don't get to tell me what to do! So why don't you bugger off!"

She kicked off again, at neck-break speed, not caring that her eyesight became blurry, or that a terrible pounding was starting to take over as she stubbornly tried to block the pesky voice which didn't seam to want to let her do as she pleased and the locked around her neck felt like it weight a ton.

_Not that way!_ The voice said urgently. _That leads towards the Forbidden Forest!_

"And I should care because?" Heidi snapped feeling annoyed.

_There are Dementors in the forest!_ The voice snapped, but Heidi failed to see what the big deal was. What were these Dementors that the voice was so worried about? Heidi couldn't quite remember what was so frightening about them. Because there was something, she could feel it, but she didn't remember what. Up until she felt a cold tremor run down her spine, and that's when she remembered.

Oh.

She barely had time to level her broom as a cloaked figure flew right at her, chilling the air around her and freezing the blood in her veins.

_Turn back!_ The voice commanded and although Heidi's through were still frozen in place, her body moved on its own account, spinning the broom around and flying in the opposite direction. One had reached inside her pocket and pulled out her wand. A jolt of adrenaline rushed through Heidi's system as her hand came in contact with her wand and she was suddenly snapped out of her trance. She risked a look back to see the cloaked figure struggling to keep up with her. Amazingly, the Firebolt seemed to be faster then the Dementor. The knowledge seemed to reassure her slightly.

_Don't let your guard down! We haven't lost it yet! _The voice reminded and Heidi was suddenly filled with dread once again. _Remember what Professor Lupin said. Think of a happy memory!_

Happy memory? Heidi understood what the voice was telling her. The only way to get the Demoentor off her back was by performing the Partonus charm, but she couldn't remember the spell…

_Expecto Patronum!_ The voice whispered urgently. _Now, focus! Think of a happy memory!_

So damn easy to order other people around! Heidi though bitterly, but no happy memory seemed to come to her. There was none, not one that was powerful enough to overshadow all the angry and bitter thought she felt towards all the people she considered friends, family, or lovers. She came up empty and she was starting to panic, since the Dementor didn't seam like he wanted to give up!

_He's gonna get me! And there's nothing I can do about it!_

_Yes there is!_ The voice said firmly. _There is one thing, one memory that isn't tarnished by anguish and despair. Heidi, look at yourself, you're flying!_

Heidi snapped her eyes open just in the knick of time to manage avoiding colliding with one of the castle's towers and stared stunned. He was right! The voice was right! She was flying! Her vision wasn't blurry anymore! Her stomach felt fine! And she was flying at neck breaking speed, the wind whipping at her face, ruffling her hair and clothes. She leaned forward and sped up, heading straight for the Greenhouse feeling excited. She could fly again! And she felt free! And there was no way that silly Dementor could beat her on her own turf! She spun around to face it.

_No! Wait! That's not what I meant!_ The voice said panic starting to creep its way into it, but Heidi didn't have a care in the world. She felt another rush of adrenalin run through her as she leveled her wand at it and sped forward.

"Expecto Patronum!" she cried and nearly cheered when a white ball of mist flew out of her wand and headed for the upcoming Dementor. Her joy turned to horror only a few seconds after when she saw the Dementor shake off the white mist easily.

_Turn around now!_ The voice snapped at her, and Heidi was quick to comply, but it seemed, not quick enough as she felt a cold hand settle upon her shoulder, freezing the blood in her veins.

"_Heidi!"_ The screams of the voice intermingled with that cruel and serpentine like cry of the cloaked figure she'd met in the forest and there was a loud scream which began to echo in her head. A woman. A woman she did not want to hear again. She felt herself falling as the hand on her shoulder released her, only to see the cloaked figure suddenly appear in front of her face, an ugly decaying hand reaching out towards her chin.

"Expecto Patronum!"

White and misty light flew between Heidi and the evil being. A doe, Heidi realized, as pure and bright as the morning sun, which easily fended off the nasty creature and send it flying away. She was suddenly aware of falling. The ground coming to meet her at an alarming pace. She closed her eye. But the crack of pain and broken bones she should have felt as she collided with the ground head first and that would most certainly have broken all the bones in her body never came. Instead, there was a strange feeling, like she'd fallen through something rubbery like, which sent her flying again a few feet, only to fall back down and bounce back up again. The motion repeated several times before it finally settled, until Heidi was feeling like she was actually going to spill out the contents of her stomach.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Heidi said disgruntled.

"I believe that is the least of your problems, Miss Potter!"

Heidi was barely able to suppress a groan as she lifted her eyes only to look into the face of a very pissed off looking Severus Snape.

"Care to explain what you were doing sixteen feet in the air with a Dementor chasing after you Miss Potter?" Snape asked with a disapproving scowl firmly plastered on his face, and an impatient tapping of his leg which clearly signaled his irritation with the whole ordeal.

It was going to be a long day.

-OOOOOOO-

**AN**: I have to apologize to the readers. A lot of you have been asking about Heidi and Voldemort and when they'd get to talk in Heidi's dreams like they used to. It'll probably not happen for a while. Well… I'm actually not so sure, but I have a few plot related chapters to get through with, as I am actually planning something big for the end of POA, so pleas bear with me through them. There will be more Heidi/Voldemort in GOF! Plus a Snape chapter was long overdue, and we'll be seeing some more of him in the next one as well. Hope you liked the chapter! Bye!


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: An Unexpected Threat**

Heidi was wrong. It was a horrible day.

"Excuse me?" she asked Snape once more hoping to have misheard him.

"You're high!" Snape snapped, while leveling her with a glare that dared her to deny it. "I know a junky when I see one! You're high as all hell. So tell me what you're on so I can give you the counter-potion and let us be done with it."

"I am not high!" Heidi insisted.

"Then what do you call: taking off to the air right after you've barely recovered from a cold and taking on a vicious Dementor? Is that normal behaviors for someone with your track record?"

"I believe it is!" Heidi argued. "If you take into account my second year when I went after a Basilisk and-"

"Adding your sudden disrespect for Authority figures and your overinflated ego-"

"How am I being disrespectful?!" Heidi asked.

"You interrupted me!" Snape snapped. "Which is a definite sign of disrespect! Need I remind you that I am your teacher, and therefore an authority figure?"

"No, actually that won't be necessary."

"Not to mention your constant twitching!" Snape finished pointing at her unsteady hands. Heidi tried as best she could to stand still, just so she could prove Snape wrong, but her eyes betrayed her.

"What are you on?" Snape asked. "And for your sake I hope you answer me before I change my mind and decide to give you a detention to go with those lost house points."

He'd taken a total of 10 house points from her, (which wasn't bad at all seeing as McGonagall would have bled her dry if she'd been the one to find her) after she'd told him about the embarrassing confrontation she'd had with Cho, and how that spurred her to take to the skies and prove the Ravenclaw Chaser wrong, and how she'd gotten too caught up with being on a broom after so long that she'd let herself get carried away (which wasn't too far off from the truth). Snape had immediately deemed that she was lying, and that she'd gotten high and had stupidly gone on some dare-devil quest to take on a full blooded Dementor and, he was apparently fearing that she'd do it again (Like she was that stupid?!)

"I'm telling you, _sir_, I'm clean!" Heidi said for the thousandth time. "Go ahead and drag me of to Madam Pomfrey if you don't believe me and have her check me!"

"You don't need to ingest something in order to get high Miss Potter," Snape said. Heidi looked at him funnily so Snape sigh, disappointed, and began explaining: "What I mean is: You've been exposed to a large surplus of Magic than your body can handle and does not know what to do with. This surplus of magic makes you feel invincible, like you've surpassed your limits. Sound familiar?"

A cold shiver ran down Heidi's spine as she recognized the feeling Snape was describing. She numbly looked down towards the wand still safely held in her clutches. Snape followed her eyes.

"May I?" He extended a hand.

Heidi glared at him.

"Miss Potter! If you are indeed high, and if your wand is the cause for this, then you need help! I know that you're a loner at heart ("I am not!"), but you won't be able to handle this on your own!" Snape said sincerely, and it was that sincerity that scared Heidi most of all, because her brain was in overdrive, and she was thinking of the many possibilities she had and she realized Snape was right! If her wand was the problem, then she needed someone else to take care of it, but it didn't necessarily have to be Snape. "And wouldn't you want a professional handling this rather than an amateur?" Damn! That one really got her.

"Fine!" she sigh exasperated and held out her wand. Surprisingly, unlike with McGonagall, her wand passed freely in Snape's had without complain.

"Promise you'll take care of it!" she threatened, still holding on to the piece of wood.

"Of course."

"And that you won't tell anyone else about this!" Heidi said feeling extremely vulnerable all of a sudden.

"You have my word," Snape swore, and Heidi released the wand.

-OOOOOOO-

Diana looked miserable as she slowly heated up the potion. She had one more ingredient left to add: lavender petal, which she was suppose to add after heating up the potion until it turned red.

Diana quickly double-checked the standard book of spells. Yep! It said red….. and the potion was turning yellow….

Something was wrong. She'd done something wrong again! Obviously she had! But what could it be?! Bugger if she knew! Maybe she should ask….? But she was horrified of asking! What if it was something simple or stupid and she'd end up annoying –

"The potion was green," Tom's calm voice resounded softly in her ear. Diana jumped a little and almost withdrew her wand from the cauldron, but Tom's soft grip kept her in place.

"Easy," he shushed. "You're doing great! Your potion was green, and in order to turn red it first has to turn yellow, and now orange –" Just as he said so, the potion next turned a soft orange color "– and then it will finally turn red. Remember the Color Spectrum we talked about last time? A potion won't just change from blue to yellow it must first go through indigo, red and orange to get there."

"Making a potion is just like making art. It takes time and the process won't be rushed. You have to learn to move at its pace in order for it to work. And you should stop worrying so much, you're getting better at it with every passing day," Tom assured with a warm smile as the potion slowly but surely started turning red.

Diana's own smile came out a little sad.

"Snape doesn't think so," she said morosely. "He's been belittling me constantly in class! Do I add the lavender petals now?"

Tom gave a little sigh at the mention of Snape.

"Let it bloom just a little more, up until it reaches the red pallet shown in the instructions, and then add them," he told her. Diana nodded and closely followed the potion to see when it would reach the red indicated in the text book, as Tom observed her closely.

She was improving. Even an idiot could see that! Despite her lacking knowledge of the basics of potions, her constant disgust at having to use animal parts in them, and the overall disinterest she had in the subject – except as a means to get to Madam Pomfrey's silly elective course – she was actually improving. Something which Diana didn't quite seem to believe despite him having reassured her several times and her tendencies to believe almost everything he said, no matter how crazy.

Snape was not a big help in that department. He constantly kept belittling her for every single mistake, while praises he never gave, because obviously, she was a third year and was far from reaching acceptable standers for third years potion students, but considering her previous lack of any kind of connection with all things potions, this was definitely a big leap for her.

He wondered whether Snape might be one of his followers? He was a Slytherin after all, and didn't Hagrid say all Slytherins were Voldemort's followers? But, then again, this was Hagrid we were talking about, and he was not the most reliable source when it came to gathering data.

"All done!" Diana said beaming proudly as she extinguished the fire and slowly gave the concoction a few more stirs "Till it turns blood-red," she hummed softly to herself and Tom moved close to observe her work.

"It looks about right," he nodded his approval. "But, tell me, why the sudden interest to make blood-replenishing potion?" he asked curiously.

Diana blushed furiously and refused to meet Tom's eyes. "Well, I was thinking that it's just so easy to lose blood, and in the medical book that I read, they always mention using blood replenishing potion in almost any kind of operation. There are even some treatments that solely rely on blood replenishing potion, so I thought I should learn to make this first. Plus it's very easy to make! Third grade material, and maybe Snape might actually be pleased with my work for once."

"It has to be easy to make," Tom told her. "It is after all, like you said, vital in may cases with regards to modern medicine. Medi-Wizards can't just waste hours upon hours to make blood replenishing potion if they're in dire need of it. There are even studies conducted every year by Medi-Wizards and Potion Masters – thesis's and the like – in which they try to shorten the time and effort or limit the ingredients it takes to create certain potions used in medical procedures."

"I've never heard of that," Diana admitted looking curious as she reached out for the vials inside her purse.

"It's kind of like the equivalent of a Doctor's Degree in the Muggle world. After you finish Hogwarts, if you wish to attain the rank of Potions Master, you have to first study under the tutelage of a Potions Master then publish a thesis with your findings during your years of tutelage. Obviously it has to be something innovating and new, because no one's gonna care for your personal thoughts on something already invented if it adds nothing new to the equation. Most obviously chose the medical field of Potion making, since it's the one that pays best and the one with the vastest domain."

At seeing Diana's questioning look Tom added: "I had a friend who wanted to become a Potions Master, and he always ranted at me about how hard it would be to get an apprenticeship with a Potion Master after he finished Hogwarts."

"Oh! I see," Diana smiled to herself as she gathered up the remaining concoction in the vials, sealed it tightly and stuffed it in her bag.

"What?" Tom asked curious. "Did I say something funny?"

"No," Diana shock her head. "It's just… you never talk about your past, so I always got the impression that you weren't comfortable talking about it. You'd always make that look when I asked about anything."

"What look?"

"The look that you're making right now."

For the split second that Diana felt Tom's glare directed at her, she stopped moving, breathing even. There was always a sense of mystery surrounding Tom, but every once in a while something else would seem to pop up… something dangerous. A feeling Diana was not at all comfortable with, after all, it had almost been a year since she'd met Tom, and she knew next to nothing about him. Well, nothing about him personally, because she knew Tom Riddle the honor student that every teacher liked and every student either admired or envied, but she knew nothing about Tom Riddle the person.

"I was an orphan," Tom told her suddenly, startling her out of her mussing.

"What?" Diana asked thinking she might have misheard.

"You asked me once about my parents," Tom recalled. "Some time last year and I remember being… less than polite with regards to the subject. It's because I don't…know how to respond to these things." There was a feeling creeping up Tom's back as he admitted that. Rage he knew, rage he could identify with. But something else was steering in his gut as well, something he couldn't quite place his finger on. "My mother died in childbirth, and I never met my father." Was that discomfort? No, it couldn't be. He had no reason to feel discomforted while talking about such mundane things. "You keep telling me about your life at home, about your family and the things you do with them, and expect me to share my experience in return, but I don't… I've got nothing of the sort to share."

He suddenly felt Diana's tiny frame slam into him, her arms tightly wrapping themselves around him.

Tom froze, completely petrified.

"Let go!" he commanded as he harshly pushed Diana away from him.

"Tom, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to upset you –"

"I think it's time you took your leave," He said in a strangely controlled voice.

_Calm down! You've got no reason to behave this way! Not now! Not when you're so close to getting what you want!_ But there was a pounding in his ear, a deafening crack that wouldn't let him think right. And it was all her fault! How ironic was that! Since she was usually so easy to handle. Yet there had been a few times when he'd liked nothing better than to Crucio her! Though, somehow, he doubted such actions would serve to put her in her place.

"Tom, I'm going," Diana's small, uncertain voice resounded behind him.

Was she scared of him? Or was that only his imagination? He really didn't have the clarity of mind to deal with this right now so he absent mindedly waved her off.

"I'm not coming tomorrow, it's my turn on Pettigrew watch, so I'll see you in two days," Diana waited a little more to see if Tom would come through, but when he didn't, she turned to leave.

"Wait!" Tom suddenly said. "What is this Pettigrew watch?"

Diana turned back to him looking perplexed. "I didn't tell you?"

"That's why I'm asking," Tom said impatiently.

"Right," Diana flushed with embarrassment and proceeded to explain to him. "After finding out about Sirius being innocent, you know we weren't able to catch Pettigrew, so we decided to keep a lookout for him with the help of the Marauder's Map. We hope that, maybe, by chance, he decides to come back to the castle, for whatever reason. And we're taking turns to watch the grounds since Heidi doesn't think letting Sirius do that is a good idea."

"Obviously not," Tom remarked rolling his eyes.

_Black would certainly kill Pettigrew if given the chance. Is that why the sleazy little bastard hasn't come back yet?_ Tom wondered.

"And you'll be on watch tomorrow?"

"Yep!" Diana responded cheerfully. "But don't worry! I'll be careful not to go after him all by myself!"

Tom shot her a mistrusting look.

"Right, because heaven knows you've never done anything like that before," he said voice overflowing with sarcasm.

"Not this time," she assured. "This time I'm going to behave! Promise!"

_Of course you will_, Riddle thought smiling to himself as he made his way towards her. "Alright! I'll trust you, but only if you promise to keep my diary with you tomorrow."

"Sure! If it makes you feel better!"

"It most definitely would," Tom said and cupped her face in his hands and leaned in to plant a soft lingering kiss on her lips.

Diana reddened like a well cocked tomato and gave him a brilliant smile.

_Good! Damage repaired!_ Riddle smiled sweetly at her as he mussed on how best to keep his temper in check from now on.

-OOOOOOO-

It was a Saturday afternoon, and Neville was impatiently glaring at the clock above the Library door, willing it to strike 5 o'clock already, because that was when the library closed during Saturdays (it closed at 3 on Sundays). Right about now, it was 4:35, so chances of him getting out of this wretched place anytime soon looked bleak.

He returned his gaze to the book in his hand _Common mistakes people make when dealing with fantastic beasts_. It was a bore fest, and not remotely helpful to them.

Hermione, the easiest to talk to of all his friend, had burst into his dormitory that morning and awoken Neville at the ungodly hour of 9:30 (Ungodly for the weekends) and demanded he accompany them to the library to help with Hagrid's upcoming Hippogriff case. If truth be told (to his shame), Neville had forgotten all about his poor friend's suffering, so he's eagerly agreed to help. In the common room they'd stumbled across Ginny, who looked pale as death itself, so Neville (eager to help distract her and spend some time with her as well), had asked her to accompany them. Ginny had gratefully agreed. And in the Library, they'd stumbled across Luna Lovegood, who was reading some random article Neville didn't care much about from the Quibbler, and she had agreed to help as well. But it had been _hours_ since then!

Diana had spent most of the day scrutinizing the Marauder's Map for any sign of Pettigrew, and had more than once fallen asleep on the job. Neville had tried to gently shake her without drawing the other's attention, but Heidi had caught her once and had chewed her ears off for it. Hermione and Heidi had spent every minutes either reading, writing instructions for Hagrid to follow when they thought they found something useful, or arguing with Luna if Hippogriffs were truly an endangered species or not. Hermione kept saying that unfortunately for Hagrid they weren't while Luna insisted that they were. When Hermione had demanded proof on the matter, Luna recited one of her dad's articles from the Quibbler where a man discussed the Ministry of Magic's plans to take over the Muggles by smuggling a large amount of Hippogriffs out of their natural habitats and into Muggle residential zones. Hermione had quickly turned cold to the conversation when she'd hear that _the Quibbler_ was cited as a reliable source of information so she'd ignored Luna's arguments from here on out, while Heidi decided to try and find more reliable sources on the matter, since from her point of view, the Hippogriff (and by extension Hagrid) was screwed otherwise. Luna was currently helping Heidi with her search for more clues, while Ginny and Neville had been bullied by Hermione into helping her out with her quest to prove that Buckbeak was innocent.

Neville didn't mind so much because he was stuck next to Ginny, but Ginny was feeling dejected, and was regularly shooting looks towards Heidi's part of the desk, which got the boy wondering whether she wanted to talk to Heidi about something…

"Neville!" he was snapped out of his mussing by Hermione's impatient voice.

"Did you find anything?"

Neville dejectedly looked down at his book and said: "Not something that would be of any use to us… it's more rather the opposite."

"What do you mean by that?" Ginny asked sounding concerned.

"It's apparently against the law to let wizards under the age of 15 near something that's classified as a level XXX. If a teacher brings to class anything about the level, it's not even up for debate anymore, the teacher would be sent to Azkaban on charge of endangering children's lives. Hippogriffs unfortunately classify as a level XXX…"

"…Yes, I know that…"

Hermione managed to say after a few moments of stone dead silence.

"You knew?" Diana said incredulously.

"Of course she knew," Heidi snapped at her sister. "That's why I keep saying that the only way to get Hagrid out of this is to proclaim that stupid Hippogriff as an endangered species, otherwise he'd be lucky to escape the damn thing with only a fin. Granted a substantial one since this is Lucius Malfoy we're talking about."

"You can't declare Hippogriffs an endangered species! The Department of Magical Creature's Control and Regulation would immediately disprove that."

"Fine!" Heidi snapped looking furious. "Then we have to find a way to make Buckbeak take the fall for the whole ordeal!"

"What!? No!" Diana and Ginny shrieked in protest. "There has to be another way!"

"There really isn't!" Heidi said. "You all need to get over the fact and Hagrid needs to start looking out for his interests."

It didn't take long after that. Madam Pince came and whisked them out right at 4:55 and promptly slammed the door closed in their dejected looking faces.

"There's still plenty of time left before dinner, do you guys want to go out to the lake?" Neville suggested and everyone agreed.

It was one of those Hogsmeade weekends, so the grounds were empty. The kids all equipped with their warmest jackets, fluffy earmuffs, gloves, scarves and heating charms wrestled their way towards the lake through the mounds of snow. Hermione had been considerate enough to bring a blanket. Unfortunately it wasn't big enough for all of them to sit comfortably, so Neville offered to sit on his bag pack.

"Your books are in there!" Hermione protested.

"Diana can put a maintenance charm on it," Neville said.

"No need," Heidi said as she pulled Diana towards her. "My baby sister can sit on my lap."

"I am not a baby!" Diana protested indignantly and glared at the brunet.

Neville smiled at seeing the two get along so well. He didn't know why or how to sum it up, but the two had been somewhat distant in the last few weeks and he didn't particularly like that. He sat himself between Ginny and Luna while Hermione tried to assure Diana that there wasn't anything wrong with being the baby sister, but that only seemed to aggravate the red-haired more.

"Next year, we'll all go to Hogsmeade together," Neville said as means to distract the girls from their arguing. The girl smiled at that, and even Ginny seamed to lose some of her gloom.

"I wonder what Ron's gonna bring you back this time…?" Diana asked Hermione as means of retribution for her earlier embarrassment.

Hermione promptly went bright red.

"Just because he's going to Hogsmeade, doesn't mean he has to bring me back anything!" she protested looking flushed.

"Are you kidding?!" Ginny asked looking surprised. "If my boyfriend went out without me, I'd expect at least an expensive peasant as an apology for not taking me along!"

"I like the way you think girl!" Diana beamed at the red-head. Neville did not particularly like that trail of thought, because it made him feel guilty for going to Hogsmeade without telling Ginny and not getting her a present as means of an apology.

"I hope it's not chocolates again," Heidi chided in. "Those were acceptable for a first present, but he'd better start improving his style!"

"Heidi!" Hermione warned looking redder than before.

"Ah! By all means girls, do say what you have in mind! I'll make sure the info reaches my brother somehow," Ginny said with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"No, you won't!" Hermione protested. "It's really no big deal! I actually like chocolates!"

"It most certainly is!" Diana said looking outraged. "That necklace he gave you is hideous darling! No offence Ginny, but you should really take your brother aside and advise him against _ever _buying something like that again!"

"Necklace?"

Everybody looked confused.

"What necklace?" Heidi asked.

"Did my brother actually buy you a necklace without consulting with me first?!" Ginny said looking surprised.

"No," Hermione assured. "He never bought me a necklace! What necklace are you referring to Diana?"

Everyone turned towards the red-head expectant.

"The one you're wearing right now!" Diana said and leaned forward to reach out in Hermione's jacket and pulled out a weird piece of jewelry made of gold shaped like a sand-clock from around her neck.

"No!" Hermione was quick to snatch the piece of jewelry back. "This is not from Ron!" she said nervously. "This is a keepsake from my mother!"

Hermione was shaking as she hurriedly tried to hide the piece of jewelry back under her coat.

"I'm sorry!" Diana was quick to apologize. "I didn't know! I've never seen you wear it before so-"

"It's because my mom just gave it to me this year!" Hermione quickly offered an excuse. "And it's fine. I overreacted."

"Overreacted" was a bit of an understatement in Heidi's humble opinion, and she wasn't buying a word from Hermione's story. Throughout the rest of the day the kids steered clear off anything Hogsmeade related. Heidi kept a close watch on Hermione's reactions and noted that the bushy-haired was reluctant to maintain eye contact, if possible, she'd avoid looking at Heidi entirely, though she'd steal quick glances once every few minutes, like she was waiting for a bomb to blow, but nothing happened. 7:30 came and the kids made their way towards the Great Double Doors without so much as a mention of Hermione's weird amulet. Hermione was still stealing furtive glances of Heidi, but the brunet refused to give in. She found that she was quite enjoying making her poor, misfortunate little friend sweat. After all, it was her fault for keeping secrets from her. After three years she should know better! She'd get to the bottom of this, and then woe is Hermione if she tried to lie to her again!

-OOOOOOO-

"It's not a common occurrence, but it's not unheard of," Snape said that afternoon when he returned her wand. "Wands can be moody, like for example, the Phoenix feather wands have been known to cause trouble without their owners' permission, while others tend to be extremely poor choices for certain subject matters while favoring others. I'll admit, it's a rarity to see a wand with a Basilisk Venom core, so I can't say I'm too familiar with its type, but I've placed a very common restraining spell on it to limit its flow of Magic. You can read about it in this book, page 35, that's the spell I used." Snape handed her an old brown book entitled _Wands. Unlocking the Mystery behind the Magic_ by Andrew Creek. "If you're not satisfied with the spell I've used you can ask Madam Pomfrey or your fried Miss Granger to replace it with another one."

"Thank you," Heidi said earnestly as she took the offered book.

It had really been a miracle, when she'd touched that piece of wood and only a small spark of magic had reached out to land on her skin. It might have been a little disappointing, since it made her feel like she'd lost an important part of herself that she was familiar with, but it was also a great relief if she was perfectly honest with herself.

"This does mean that your spells won't have as much fire-power as before!" Snape warned.

"I figured as much," Heidi said slightly dejected.

"You can always cast Finite Incantatem on it and the spell I placed on it will be broken."

"So it's nothing too complicated then," she took a quick glance over the spell at page 35 and marveled at its simplicity. She felt rather disappointed. Her wand had felt like such a masterpiece, that she felt slightly insulted that such a simple spell could contain it so effectively.

_Not much of a rebel then_, she thought. _But then again, neither am I_.

"Well then," Snape turned to leave. "I hope you take better care of yourself from now on Miss Potter."

"Professor!" Heidi called him back. "I was meaning to ask…"

Snape turned to look at her expectantly.

"My sister, she has been improving! And I'm certain you've noticed-"

Snape sighed looking irritated.

"And you'd deem her improvement acceptable for a third year student?" Snape asked tiredly.

The man really looked irritated with the subject, so Heidi briefly wondered if someone else hadn't pestered him about this before.

"Yes!" Heidi responded with confidence and pulled a vial out of her pocket. "It's blood replenish potion. She made it I swear! I challenged her to make it, and it turned out great! And I think this speaks volumes for how much she's-"

"It's useless!" Snape cute her off as he returned the vial to her, scoffing at it.

"Excuse me?!" Heidi asked thinking she'd misheard.

"It's too thin!" Snape snapped. "Give this to any decent Medi-Wizard and I'm certain they will throw the damn thing in your face and ask you if you'd actually expect them to use such a week product in their procedures."

"Madam Pomfrey might disagree!" Heidi began to protest. "I went and asked he-"

"I said decent Medi-Wizard!" Snape snapped and turned to leave. As he did so, a hot blinding jolt of plain flashed through his arm. He reached for his left forearm as he stopped dead in his tracks, petrified.

_This could not be happening!_

He turned around to come face-to-face with Heidi's furious glare. The brunet immediately composed her features when she caught him staring, but his left arm was still burning.

What was going on here? He had to know! He just had to!

_Are you doing this? _

He reached out to her.

Heidi flung him out of her mind furiously and it shocked him to see that the girl's eyes had turned blood red.

"You will do well to stay out of my head sir," Heidi warned. No, threatened! Him a teacher! But he supposed not even that was right. This was not Heidi who was glaring scornfully at him, it was someone else.

"I hear that the punishment for intruding on a student's privacy without their permission is a life sentence in Azkaban," she said sweetly, _venomously_. She spun on her heals and walked away.

Severus was stuck gaping after her.

_Dumbledore_, he through feeling his head explode with a million and one questions and fears. _I must tell Dumbledore!_

-OOOOOOO-

"Hurry sir, we're nearly there!" Neville said as he and Luna sprinted forward.

"We're right behind you," Lupin shouted after them.

They twisted through another corner and ran straight through a tapestry only to end up on the seventh floor, somewhere near the Arithmancy class. The third class from the end of the corridor, that's where Neville ad Luna stopped at.

Lupin, Hermione, Heidi and Diana rushed to catch up to them.

"Ah! This classroom!" Lupin exclaimed as soon as he'd caught his breath. "It used to be the old Music club in my first years, but Flitwick wanted something more spacious, so Dumbledore gave him one of the classes on the third floor instead."

"It's moved since then," Diana said helpfully as a loud crack was heard from within the room.

"Figures," Lupin said not sounding surprised at all. "This classroom got turned into a storage room for old instruments. I suppose there's really no better place to find a Boggart."

"There's always Filch's cabinet," Diana said remembering the filthy old thing. "I really need to pester him more about getting that place cleaned!"

"Good luck with that," Neville wished.

"Okay, people! We've wasted enough time!" Hermione chided in. "That thing might be vandalizing musical instruments! We need to get it out of there now!"

"And I'm going to take it home!" Diana said enthusiastically.

"You will do no such thing!" Heidi protested as Lupin made his way towards the door and pulled out his wand. "Mom would kill you if she found that thing in the house!"

"I'm sorry Diana, but I can't let you take this thing anywhere near Muggles!" Lupin said firmly. "You and your friends might be able to fend the creature off, but the same does not apply for your Muggle parents!"

He opened the door and took a quick peak inside.

"Does everyone have their wands ready?" Lupin asked.

"Yes!" five voices responded silently to his question.

"You better stay behind me," Neville told Luna.

"Look at you, acting the gallant Knight!" Diana teased, which caused Neville to go red in the face.

Lupin cautiously took a step inside the classroom and switched on the lights.

The place was a mess. It was cramped and filled with old instruments of every sorts and small desks. Even a wardrobe was stuck in the corner. All of them dusty, looking like they hadn't seen the light of day in years. But no sign of the Boggart.

"It's probably hiding," Lupin remarked as he tried to make his way further into the room. Hermione, Diana and Heidi followed his lead, trying to squeeze their way through the mountain of old instruments. Neville and Luna entered the classroom as well and bared the door so the Boggart couldn't escape.

"I think I saw something move!" Diana remarked from her corner of the room.

"Stay where you are! I'm coming over!" Lupin cautioned, but Diana being Diana, obviously didn't listen. Hermione and Heidi made their way towards her as well.

"Professor Lupin said to stay put!" Hermione said as she reached the red-haired.

Diana shrugged off her friend's warning as Lupin struggled to squeeze his way between a cello and a desk, and gave up and climbed the desk instead. A rustling noise was heard coming from the drawer near Diana.

"Diana, don't open that!" Lupin warned.

"Oh, please!" The red-haired said slightly put off and opened the drawer. She screamed, and so did Hermione and the both of them desperately started to struggle their way out of the rumble.

"What's wrong?" Neville asked, his eyesight obscured by the many instruments that stood between him and the girls.

Lupin jumped over the desk, falling straight on a harp, which got trampled under his feat and sprang over a mini duvet and came face to face with… a rat…

"Wait! That's a rat?! Is that Peter Pettigrew?!" Diana exclaimed as she hurriedly pulled out the Marauders Map.

"Stupefy!" Heidi aimed for the rat, and the little bugger fell flat on his fat belly.

"No, it's not!" Diana said sounding disappointed.

Neville rushed over to help Hermione climb down a desk.

"You okay?" The boy asked.

"Not really," Hermione said earnestly.

Lupin banished the rat and turned back towards the kids.

"What did you mean by Peter Pettigrew?" the professor asked.

"We saw the name once on this map," Diana said and showed him the Marauder's Map.

"We thought it was odd because Hagrid had told us that Peter Pettigrew was killed by Sirius Black twelve years ago, when Black was sentenced to Azkaban," Heidi told the professor. "And suddenly the name appeared on the map. It shows where all the people who are wondering about on Hogwarts grounds are, if you haven't noticed."

"I… I know what this map does," Lupin said as he delicately held the map in his fingers, brushing his thumb lightly over the worn out material. "Where did you get this?"

"From Mister Filch!" Diana exclaimed happily. "It had the name James Potter on it, so I asked him if I could have it, and he agreed."

"You really expect me to believe that Filch would have given you this?" Lupin asked shooting her a skeptic look. His face turned back towards the map. "I remember… I remember when Filch confiscated it from us…"

"You were friends with my dad, weren't you, Professor?" Heidi asked. Lupin turned to give her a surprised look. "Hagrid said so. That you and dad and… Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew used to be friends."

Lupin's head slowly fell into a soft nod as his eyes trailed back towards the piece of parchment.

"Yes, we where… a long time ago…"

There was a scent of nostalgia written all over his face and his gaze was so distant, his eyes clouded with past memories as he continued gazing at the map.

"And you're sure," He asked slowly lifting his eyes from the piece of parchment. "You're sure Peter Pettigrew's name came up on this map?"

"Several times actually," Neville said.

"We actually thought it weird, since it always came up around Ron Weasley," Hermione said. "It worried me so we decided to investigate and followed Ron around, only to find him wondering the halls with his rat."

"Weird name for a rat," Neville said and Hermione nodded.

"Yes, it really got us confused for a moment," she agreed.

"Ron lost his rat a few weeks ago and we agreed to help find him," Luna said helpfully. "That's why we thought that the rat we'd found here might be him."

"But it wasn't," Diana said sounding disappointed.

"Ron's rat…is named Peter Pettigrew?" Lupin said doubtfully.

"No, actually, Ron insists his name is Scabbers," Heidi said. "But on the map he never appeared as Scabbers!"

"That's because this map doesn't show animals!" Lupin said looking pensive. "Has Scabbers turned up?"

"No, not since he disappeared," Neville said. "He's still on the run that little bugger!"

"I see…" Lupin looked suspiciously at the map.

"Maybe the map made a mistake," Diana suggested. "I mean, the rat was Percy's, maybe he called him Peter Pettigrew?"

"The map doesn't make mistakes," Lupin shuck his head vehemently. "When did Scabbers disappear?"

"Right after the Quidditch match. The first Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff one," Neville supplied.

"And do you kids remember whether Scabbers had a missing finger on his left arm?" Lupin asked.

The kids shared confused looks.

"I can't say for certain…" Heidi said looking thoughtful. "Do you remember Hermione?"

"…Not really… I'm sorry professor!"

"No, no worries," Lupin assured. "It's alright."

"They where in the paper," Luna supplied helpfully. "The Weasley Family I mean. Sometime around June or July, they won the lottery and the whole bunch of them where in the papers. I think Scabbers was too…"

"Really?" Lupin asked intrigued. He suddenly jumped off the desk and started making his way towards the exit. "Oh, right," he turned back to the kids. "Do you kids have any other business with me?"

The kids shock their heads.

"Not really professor," Neville said.

"Sorry for wasting your time in the first place," Hermione said apologetically.

"Don't worry about it," Lupin said kindly. "That's what we teachers are here for! Please don't hesitate to call me if you have any other problems!"

"We most certainly will!" Diana assured and Luna nodded.

"Professor, can we have the map back?" Heidi asked.

"We promised mister Filch we'd take care of it," Diana said.

Lupin looked slightly reluctant.

"I suppose so… but could you kids come and tell me, if you find Scabbers, or Peter Pettigrew, whichever?"

"Of course!" the kids promised and Lupin was out the door as soon as he handed the Map to Neville.

A few minutes of dead silence passed as the kids listened to Lupin's retreating footsteps echoing along the marble floor, before:

"That was fantastic!" Diana said beaming at the assembled crowd.

"I can not believe how well that went!" Neville sighed looking truly relieved.

"We definitely deserve and Oscar for our prestation!" Heidi beamed at them.

"We most certainly do!" Hermione agreed.

"And Luna deserves ten tons of Butter-bear for coming up with such a brilliant plan!" Diana said.

"Well, it was kind of obvious," Luna said. "I mean, we did have proof if you think about it. But we couldn't just head up to him and tell him what we knew. We just had to give him a little push in the right direction, so that he can come to his own conclusion."

"Yeah, but that conclusion can still turn up to be less than favorable," Heidi said, still not looking convinced. "Either way, good work on saving the Map Diana! We couldn't have given it to him else he would have found out where Sirius is."

"Thank you very much," Diana jumped off the desk and bowed slightly, like she was a diva and had just finished delivering a spectacular show.

Neville grinned.

"I think we all deserve three cheers for team effort!"

"We most certainly do!" Diana agreed. "Hip hip hooray!" she cheered once and the other kids joined in.

-OOOOOOO-

The kids were happy to note that poor Professor Lupin seemed rather distracted at diner and he didn't make an appearance for Breakfast the next morning. The kids were wondering whether he'd been to the school library and skimmed through their collection of Daily Prophet editions and found the picture of the Weasley family with Peter Pettigrew yet. But they had no way of knowing that for certain since Madam Pince was really not such an agreeable librarian as to tell them, though he had spent the entire morning in the Library from what Heidi could remark.

Morning classes were excruciatingly slow, and Diana barely managed to stay still in her seat, while Hermione was anxious because Heidi had made several detours to the library, and unlike her, who went there to search for a way to help Hagrid, her friend was looking at random books that had no connection with one another: _The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Greatest discoveries of the last century_, and some other books whose titles she didn't see.

Hermione had a sinking feeling that she knew exactly what Heidi was looking for. If she was perfectly honest with herself, she didn't think she'd manage to get away with the whole ordeal if this were any other year, and if Heidi hadn't been as sick or distracted as she'd been throughout the course of this one, and while she was down right surprised she'd managed to evade the brunet for so long, she couldn't help wishing that it would take Heidi just a little bit longer to figure her out. But it was barely the start of February, the Gryffindor vs Ravenclaw match was almost upon them, and Hermione had a sinking feeling in her gut which told her she was not going to escape her friend's scrutiny for much longer.

_Still, just a little longer! _

-OOOOOOO-

_Oh, Hermione you little b*$h!_

Heidi was pissed as all hell.

Madam Pomfrey had refused to let her back on a broom again, so she'd had to refuse Wood when he came to ask her if she could play for the team in the match against Ravenclaw. That had disappointed old Woody boy, and it had left Heidi feeling useless and pissed off that she couldn't pummel Cho Chang for being such a little harpy, but that didn't mean that she wasn't going to do everything in her power to make certain that the Ravenclaws got their asses handed to them, so she'd sought out Angelina Johnson.

"Kill them, in the upcoming match or I'll kill you!"

She'd threatened as she handed Gryffindor's star Chaser her precious Firebolt. Angelina had promised that she'd do just that, though she had looked a little disappointed. Heidi really hadn't liked that look, so she'd resorted to playing really dirty and had sought out the Weasley twins and challenged them to knock out the other team's Seeker. The twins had been reluctant at first, because Cho _was_ a girl and all that, but when she'd mocked their Quidditch skills, they'd promptly agreed to take the little Snitch out of the skies. And somehow, all that still didn't leave her satisfied! So she'd resorted to tackling the only problem that was within her grasp: Hermione's mysterious behavior and her ugly necklace.

_Best friends are we?_

_I tell you all my secrets and you do this to me you little-_

"Heidi! I came to bring you your Firebolt!" Wood said as he rushed over towards her.

_Ah shit! Calm down! Don't let him see something's wrong!_ She told herself furiously.

"Please don't leave it in the locker room I told her! Someone might try to sabotage it I tell her! "Oh, of course coach, I'll take care of it!" She said. But she still left it there!" Wood was complaining. "I'm going to chew her ears off tomorrow! Hm? What's wrong with you?"

"What? Me? Nothing!" Heidi was quick to lie, not very convincingly if Wood's expression was anything to go by.

"Does it bother you?" Wood asked. "That you can't play?"

Heidi glared at him.

"Are you an idiot?!"

"Excuse me?" Wood asked looking dumbfounded at her.

"Of course it bothers me!" Heidi snapped startling Wood. "The retarded little amateur who stole my boyfriend has taken my place and is going to play against the little bitch that dared to tell me to my face that I've left the team in the next match, and you guys are doing a horrible, horrible job at pretending like you're doing alright and like you're not blaming the fact that we're on third place right now and you're getting your asses chewed by the reps because of me! Yeah, I'm bloody brilliant! Thanks for asking!"

She snatched the broom from Wood's flimsy grasp and was about to run for it, when:

"Heidi!"

She stopped dead in her tracks.

She'd never heard Wood sound so angry before. Maybe saying all those nasty thing to him wasn't such a good idea, after all, Wood wasn't to blame for… most of it, and it was Hermione she was annoyed with most of all!

"Look Wood, I'm sorry-"

"Get on that broom!"

"What?" Heidi asked thinking she might have misheard him.

"You heard me! Get on that broom right now and prove to me that you can still fly, or else I'll spare everyone that trouble and take you off the team right now!"

He had that stubborn look on his face. The one you couldn't really argue against even if you knew he was totally wrong. Didn't stop her from trying!

"Look, I'm sorry! I said a lot of things that I didn't mean to! And it wasn't even really your fault! I had other things on my mind and I ended up taking them out on you! I'm truly sorry-"

"What does it matter?" Wood said. His voice had softened considerably and he looked really tired all of a sudden. "What does it really mater? Whatever reasons you had, I doubt you would have said any of those things if you really didn't mean them."

Heidi felt very guilty all of a sudden.

"Well-"

"And it's not like you're wrong," Wood cut her off.

"Excuse me?"

"You're not wrong!" Wood repeated. "I honestly do blame you!" That confession really did take Heidi by surprise. "Damn it Potter! Of all the bloody times you could have done this to me, you chose to do it _now_?! Sure Weasley is good! And I honestly see a bright future for that girl, but right now, she's not the one I need! I don't have time to stand by her and coach her through the last two year when you where on the team! And neither do the rest of my teammates have the time to adapt to playing with her instead of you! Not with all this pressure put on us with those pros watching our every more! Some of my players really are hoping to get a chance at the big leagues and we are trashing this chance up for everyone because you suddenly decided that this year of all years was a good time to take a break from Quidditch! Damn it Potter! I need my A team to get this right! Not some reserve who's never been on the field before and is barely now getting her footing!" Wood stopped to take a big breath, and Heidi felt strangely calm even after Wood's outburst.

She couldn't quite properly explain it to herself, what she was feeling. It was a strange sort of numb relief, or a stinging sadness, or maybe a combination of both. But, somehow, she felt like her head had cleared all of a sudden.

She mounted her broom, and kicked off!

She nearly lost her footing once or twice, and she couldn't go as fast as she wanted to, but she loved it! The feeling of the wind flowing through her hair and the sight of the clear blue and endless sky above her made her breath catch in her throat and her heart started beating about ten times faster.

God, how she'd missed this!

She reluctantly landed after a few minutes, suddenly feeling out of breath and very lighthearted she barely managed to land on her feet. Wood was suddenly at her side, there to help her steady herself. The serious and grouchy look had been replaced by a brilliant smile.

"I could kiss you, you know that?" he settled for a hug instead.

It felt strangely familiar yet really surreal, remembering all those times Wood had hugged her like this right after she'd caught the Snitch during a Quidditch match. It kind of gave her hope for the future.

"I still don't think I'll make it in time for this match," Heidi confessed as Wood let her go.

"No, maybe not this one," He agreed. "But there's plenty of time left before May, so you better be there for the next Quidditch practice Potter! I'm not going to indulge your lazing about any longer!" He ruffled her hair and was off before Heidi got to throw a few good insults his way.

"Damn Wood!" she muttered embarrassed to herself as she struggled to set her hair back in its proper place.

"That was quite impressive Miss Potter! I'd say you're just about ready to return to the team," a kind, grandfatherly voice resounded for behind her.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Heidi turned to see the old man striding towards her. He wasn't even that far off. Heidi wondered how in the world could she have not seen the old man approach her when his white beard and flamboyant pink suit stood out like a Christmas tree lit on fire among the mounts of snow fluff that were covering the ground.

"I didn't see you there sir-"

She turned politely towards him, but there was something wrong! Something she couldn't quite place into words… some kind of presence… in her mind…

_Relax!_ A soothing voice resounded in her head. _Calm down and leave the old man to me! Just pretend you haven't noticed anything!_

She suddenly felt her body relax, but her brain was still in turmoil. Though she doubted Dumbledore felt any of it. It felt just like her conscienceless had taken second place, and was just watching from the background as somebody else ran the show.

"I was a little worried my dear, since you've been so sick as of late," she heard Dumbledore say, as if through a tube, or maybe she had water in her ears.

The memories of her sick days in the hospital wing sprang to her mind, moving in fast-forward, like someone was skimming through them. She saw Hermione and her taking about Lupin being a werewolf. That one seemed to stay a little longer.

"I'm sorry to have worried you Professor," she heard herself say. "I caught a rather nasty cold."

There was more emphasis on her helpless condition, yet nothing about her unbreakable vow with Madam Pomfrey, noting about her drug addiction.

_Not that! I don't want anyone to find out about that!_

_Relax! He won't!_ Again that calm, serpentine voice. Though it felt a little strained.

"Well, you've seemed to have recovered nicely," Dumbledore said smiling, his blue eyes fixed on her.

Now the memories shifted, to Sirius.

_No! Not there!_

_Relax!_

"Yes, and thank goodness for small mercies!" She heard herself say again as the memory of when they captured and interrogated Sirius flashed through her mind. "Though I probably won't make it to the upcoming match with Ravenclaw," she – or rather, someone who sounded just like her said sadly.

The memories of Sirius played themselves out in her mind repeatedly, insistently, up until they suddenly stopped. A pressure retreated from her mind.

"I'm sorry to hear that," she could her Dumbledore's voice loud and clear. "The team seemed to have lost confidence in themselves as of late… Though I'm sure you showing up at practice will help boost their morals a bit!" Dumbledore said and smiled kindly.

"Now, I think it's about time you headed back inside. It's nearly Dinner time!" he advised calmly.

She felt a smile make its way upon her face.

"About time! I was getting a little hungry!" And her feet where starting to move on their own, away from Dumbledore at such an excruciating pace.

_Run!_ She was screaming. Why wouldn't anyone listen! Why wouldn't her body listen!

_Not yet!_ A firm voice told her, but she didn't care.

_Wait till we get to the Double Doors!_ It said, but she didn't care!

_Now! _

She felt like she'd crashed through a brick wall, but her body was moving! She darted straight for the great Double Doors, through the mountain of students piling up to get to the Great Hall, and up the stairs to the third corridor. She crashed through the Hospital Wing doors in a furry and hurriedly closed them behind her.

"Heidi! My god, you scared the soul right out of me!" Madam Pomfrey reprimanded, but Heidi heard none of it. She rushed for the nurse's bathroom.

"Wait girl! What is the matter with you?! What happened?"

She threw up everything she'd eaten at Lunch and everything she had left in her stomach from that Morning and somehow, it still didn't make it feel any batter. She still wanted to throw up something else. The sour disgusting tasted of bile and blood filled her mouth, and Poppy truly panicked when she saw blood spill from the girl's mouth.

She felt and arsenal of spells wash over her, but it was okay. This was Madam Pomfrey. Madam Pomfrey was safe. She had her sworn to secrecy-

"Don't tell anyone about this!" Heidi suddenly turned to her, looking truly desperate. "Promise me! You'll keep my secret! Promise!"

"Of course girl! Now tell me what happened!" Poppy demanded as she thrust a vial of orange colored liquid into her hands.

Heidi drowned it all in one gulp.

"Not so much!" Madam Pomfrey cautioned a little too late.

"I want a book," Heidi said after cringing a little bit at the sour taste. "On Legilimency and Occlumency! Please you have to get one for me!"

"Why?" Poppy looked shocked at her request. "What happened?"

"I…"

_Would she help me? If I told her I think Dumbledore read my mind?_

_No, she wouldn't!_ A voice resounded firmly in her head. _Tell her …_

"Snape! Snape tried to read my mind! And it terrified me Poppy!" Heidi said looking mortified. "Someone was inside my head! Looking at my memories! At things that I would never willingly share with other people! And there are more like him, aren't there? More who could get inside my head and read my mind like an open book! And that scares me! Please Poppy you have to help me! Please! You have to help me keep them out of my head!"

"Shush child! It's alright now! Of course I'll help you!" Poppy assured looking disgusted by the whole ordeal.

_You wouldn't be so disgusted if you know it was Dumbledore I'm scared of right now, would you, you old hag?_

She let herself sink into Madam Pomfrey's embrace even as she felt her stomach turning with disgust at the whole ordeal. Poppy pampered her, tucked her in a bed and that night she brought her the book she'd asked for on Occlumency and Legilimency.

Heidi took good care to write down everything about the book. She was going to buy this no matter what and learn to keep Dumbledore and anyone else out of her mind. That she swore to herself.

_I'm not going to forgive you for this old man!_

She said hands shaking as she followed Dumbledore's dot make it's way to Hagrid's hut that night. He stayed there for hours, his dot seated besides Sirius' and once or twice, Hagrid even left the hut for a bit, but in the end, he left, and Sirius was still there with Hagrid, so maybe he'd deemed Sirius to not be a threat, but Heidi honestly didn't care.

_How dare you?!_

Heidi didn't sleep that night. Instead she lit the candle on her bed side table and began reading chapter one of the book Poppy had brought.

_Occlumency, the art of shielding your mind from your enemies…_

-OOOOOOO-

**AN**: I chose Luna to be the one to come up with the plan because she seams more like the type that would splutter brilliant nonsense without much thought or effort put into it, and she is definitely the most abstract thinker of the whole bunch. Diana and Neville don't really have the subtlety, Hermione would over think it, and Heidi is too preoccupied with other thoughts to really put much of an effort into it. I didn't get Ginny involved because she doesn't know about Sirius, and Neville would never tell her without the twins' permission, which Heidi would never give (Neither would Diana for that matter).


	15. Chapter 15

AN: Some of Trelawney's lines are taken directly from the book.

**Chapter 15: A Day in the Life**

7 AM sharp was Hermione's usual waking hour.

Three years ago, when she'd first arrived at Hogwarts, she'd taken her alarm clock with her, and that night after the welcoming feast, she'd set it of to ring at 7 sharp like she usually did. Which unfortunately had got her in a bit of trouble with her house mates seeing as the clock's ringing had woken every other person in the dorm, and Parvati and Lavender did not enjoy waking up so early. Diana hadn't been particularly pleased either, but her sister, Heidi – always full of good ideas – had suggested she place silencing wards around her bed and place her clock inside the wards. That way she'd be able to wake up whenever she wanted, and it was this neat little idea that allowed Hermione to wake up always on time without disturbing anyone else.

Hermione turned off the alarm clock and silently made her way out of bed. Her room mates were still sound asleep, but she always double checked Heidi's bed, because the girl wasn't a deep sleeper and would sometimes surprised Hermione by jumping out of bed right when she was about to.

No such luck today, Heidi was sound asleep. Hermione figured it had something to do with the girl returning to Quidditch practice a week ago (against Madam Pomfrey's recommendations, a sour subject for the nurse), and her being too tired to wake up. It was just as well, since Hermione wasn't at all too eager to talk to her friend.

Heidi had been… rather crossed with her as of late; something which the other members of their group had taken notice of, but none were willing to question either girl about the matter. Hermione had been too cowardly to confront her, and wasn't planning on doing it any time soon. She was scared to find out the reasons why, though she suspected what they were…

Either way, Hermione started preparing for the day.

Today was a Wednesday. After breakfast she had History of Magic and Herbodlogy, than there was Lunch and after that, Transfiguration and Divination/Ancient Runes. Professor McGonagall had spoken with Dumbledore and Trelawney, because she'd been rather concerned about Hermione using "it" to get to classes and Trelawney had agreed to move Divinations to Wednesdays, saying that she'd had a favorable reading in the cards about it. Hermione wasn't even going to try to understand what she meant by that. And she was really starting to suspect she wasn't cut out for Divination. Maybe she could drop the damn subject…?

Either way, she packed her books into her bag and rushed to the bathroom to change her clothes and style her hair in those beautiful curls that Diana had taught her.

Ron had said he liked her hair like that.

Hermione blushed furiously as she struggled to straighten her bushy looks. She wasn't as good at this as Diana, but she was getting there.

_I'm not doing this for Ron!_ She told herself firmly. _I'm not some love-sick puppy pandering to the guy's every wishes!_ _I like this hair style! I'm doing this for myself!_

And she tried to reinforce that thought by remembering that Parvati liked her hairstyle as well. So did Padma and Diana thought she looked as cute as a doll! Neville and Dudley had liked it too! And so had Malfoy –

She suddenly looked at herself in the mirror, struggling with the straightening iron on her last curl. It was straight all the way through. All she had to do now was cast that neat little spell Diana had thought her and her hair would be all wavy and beautiful… but she kind of liked it straight… it was, different.

Hermione placed the straightening iron down on the sink and took a moment to observe herself in the mirror.

_I… like it!_

She smiled and it felt so weird all of a sudden. She felt like a different person. The face looking back at her wasn't her own, or at the very least she didn't recognize that shy, but genuine smile.

_It would look better with some lip gloss, and a little red in the cheeks, maybe some brown or back eye liner…_

Before she knew it, she had raided Diana's makeup stash and was already trying on a few lip sticks or glosses. And it was so much fun! She though she was beginning to understand why Diana spent so much time ogling the mirror. It was a little bit addicting!

Once she felt satisfied with her image, she swiftly made her way out of the bathroom and placed Diana's makeup stash back in her trunk, grabbed her school bag and exited the room before anyone woke up to see her.

She was feeling a little bit naughty, but very much pleased with herself, and she was sure Diana was going to commend her once she'd woken up. But for now, time for breakfast!

There weren't many people in the Dining Hall, not this early in the morning, only the regulars. A seventh year Ravenclaw girl Hermione'd noticed since her first year whom she'd asked for advice on where to find certain books in the library because she was too scared to ask Madam Pins. Percy Weasley had his books meticulously spread out amongst the piece of pumpkin pie, the mug of apple juice and the small bowl of porridge, and a few were hovering in front of his tired eyes. The twins from Hufflepuff were sitting a few rows from where she was. A few fifth year Ravenclaws and the one lonely Slytherin, whom Hermione'd never seen hang out with any of the members of his own house.

_Well, if I had Draco Malfoy for a house mate, I wouldn't want to hang out with him either!_

The hall wasn't bound to fill for at least another hour, so Hermione took a page out of Percy's book and pulled out her own book out of her bag and started reading.

She'd know when her friends arrived, because Diana had this annoying habit of sticking her hands through her hair and "straighten it out for her". That was the first thing she did when laying her eyes on her. Every day, for the past three years, that was her red-haired friend's way of greeting her. She'd just stick her fingers through her hair and complain about something Hermione had done wrong and how she still had a long way to go before she could do her hairdo herself.

"I like it."

Hermione jumped a little in fright before recognizing the voice and turning around to see Diana Potter standing behind her, her hands hovered above her hair before finally coming to rest on Hermione's shoulders. She had a brilliant smile plastered on her face.

Hermione blushed furiously when she registered that Diana had finally praised her hair style and her eyes trailed across the hall to see Luna sitting down at the table, one seat away from her (the seat between them belonged to Diana). Neville, who had an approving look on his face, had taken the seat opposite to Luna (who still had that vague, impassive expression on her face) while Ginny (who had a wide grin on her face to match Diana's) had sat herself between Neville and Heidi who was sitting opposite Hermione. The brunet's green eyes were fixed on her, and Hermione was suddenly reminded of the hostility that still dueled between the two and was about to look away before:

"It suits you."

And Heidi turned her head back towards the book in her hands.

She didn't know why, but Hermione felt as if the tens air between them had suddenly lifted and her heart started beating at a much more leisured pace.

"Thank you!" she said happily. "And good morning!"

Breakfast flew by quite quickly, with Heidi actually talking to her for once, instead of just ignoring her the way she usually would, and Hermione was feeling overjoyed. She'd never realized just how much she'd missed the brunet's company up until now.

A few minutes before breakfast ended, Ron finally made his appearance. He rushed his way towards them, gave Hermione a quick peak on the cheek and a rushed "Morning" to the rest before throwing himself at the remaining food.

Hermione was slightly disappointed with him for not having remarked her new hairdo, but figured that Ron was nervous for having overslept and was in a rush to get to class. A feeling she wasn't too familiar with, but Neville always assured her it was a hectic and horrible way to start the day.

Ginny and Luna were the first to rise, seeing as their first class of the day was Herbology, and the both of them wanted to arrive on time.

"I'm off brother dear," the red-haired said and as she caught Ron's eye, she discretely gestured towards Hermione, but Ron just shock his head confusedly at her, so Ginny just rolled her eyes and left.

The rest of the group soon rose as well and began making their way towards Professor Bins' classroom. Heidi was leading the pack, having been slightly irritated with the rest for choosing to wait for Ron to finish his meal and hence fort making them a little late.

"The old ghost wouldn't mind," Ron had said jokingly and turned white as a sheet when the brunet has tuned to glare bloody vengeance upon him.

Diana and Neville were right behind the brunet talking quietly with each other and she and Ron were walking a few strides behind the two. Ron kept babbling about some random Quidditch match that was supposed to take place in a couple of weeks. He'd taken enough glances at her, but somehow Hermione was starting to lose hope that he'd remark her looks. Or maybe he was just playing dumb because he didn't like how she looked and was trying to spare her the hurt.

History of Magic was a boor fest. Ron was snoring on Hermione's right and Neville was brooding on her left. Diana, Parvati and Lavender were gossiping about something in the back of the class, while Dean and Seamus were trying very hard to but into their conversation (which the girls weren't appreciating one bit). Heidi was sitting at the front of the class with two Ravenclaws beside her, none of them talking, all three closely following Binns' every word. Professor Binns was droning on about some Goblin rebellion that Hermione was certain they'd covered in their second year, because she was positively convinced that the Ministry couldn't revoke the Goblin's right to bear wands, when they had been revoked already and the order had never been disbanded. As far as she knew…

She was quick to run to Heidi's side when the class was over and have her suspicions confirmed.

"Second year," Heidi confirmed. "The fifth great Goblin Rebellion. But the first time we talked about it we were studying the consequences the war had on wizarding society, while this time-"

"It's about the consequences the war had on Goblins and their way of life," said Hermione.

"Which did improve drastically since the founding of the Wizarding bank," Heidi remarked. "Although, indifferent of how well they are of financially, it doesn't change the fact that they are just third class citizens, are not allowed to vote nor have any say in the way the country is run and their punishments for breaking the law are much more sever than your average wizard. It really doesn't surprise me that most of the Goblins were secretly on Voldemort's side."

Hermione shuddered slightly at hearing the name.

"He offered them equal rights?" She asked more than a little curious.

"I'm not sure," Heidi confessed. "It was after all only suspected that they were on Voldemort's side. Noting could be proven legally, or else the Ministry would have revoked their right to handle the biggest Wizarding bank in the country. So I don't know all the details. But if I am to be honest… I doubt it. It just doesn't seem like a thing he would do."

"Yeah," Hermione agreed. "You-Know-Who probably just offered them some extra rights…"

Heidi shock her head at Hermione for her reluctance to say the name, so Hermione searched around for a distraction and then she noticed Neville's upset face.

"What's wrong with him?" Hermione asked slightly concerned.

"Don't know," Heidi shrugged. "I'll go ask."

"I'll come too."

"Your not gonna walk to class with your boyfriend?" Heidi asked while shooting her a knowing look.

Hermione faltered slightly. She realized that her friend guessed that she was slightly ticked of at Ron for not having remarked her hairdo, but she didn't want to confirm Heidi's suspicions, because she didn't want to admit to herself that she was that petty. Though she was ticked of at Ron! Still…

"I'll catch up to you guys," she said feeling very much dejected.

Heidi shook her head at her before chasing after Neville, while Hermione miserably resigned herself to wait for Ron to catch up to her (Diana had gone of ahead with Lavender and Parvati).

It was a long way to Herbology and Ron would not shut up about the Chudley Cannons. She wondered, if it had been a member of the team that changed their hairdo would Ron have noticed? Or was this simply not his thing? Or did he really not like her hairdo?

Hermione and Ron had just reached the marvel stairway, and Hermione was just about to make her descent when Ron's hand shot up to grab hers and pull her back towards the corridor, but slightly behind him. He was all tensed up, and Hermione turned to see what was causing him such distress.

It was Draco Malfoy and his merry gang of mischiefers (with the small addition of Pansy Parkinson) who'd just descended the stairway.

_What's Malfoy doing upstairs? _Hermione wondered. _Oh right! He had Defense which is located on the third floor! Right! That makes sense. So why are we stopping?_ That part Hermione did not understand. Why had Ron chosen to stop right in the middle of the small platform when Malfoy and his goons would most likely want to go to Transfigurations which was located on Ground floor in the Middle Courtyard. And they were running late! Professor McGonagall would not be pleased!

"Ron-"

"Don't move!"

Ron was definitely tense.

"Weasley!" Malfoy exclaimed looking as though he'd stumbled upon something foul. "My day is not boding out to be good if I have the misfortune of stumbling across you so early in the morning."

"Neither is mine!" Ron replied spitefully.

"Oh! Poor you!" cooed Pansy Parkinson. Crabbe and Goyle burst into fits of laughter.

"Why are you standing here for?" Malfoy asked looking peeved at Ron for blocking his way. "Do you want something, or are you just paranoid that I'd push you off the steps? Which I'll admit is tempting, if I'd think the fall'll do more than give you a few scratches you'll use to wail to your girlfriend about."

Crabbe and Goyle howled with laughter while Pansy pretended to fuss over some invisible wound from Draco's hand like a worried mother.

Hermione was fuming when she heard that and wanted to give Malfoy and his cronies a piece of her mind, but Ron stubbornly held her in place.

"You know, just cause that's the only way you know how to impress a girl, doesn't mean I have to sink as low as to imitate you in order to impress Hermione!" Ron responded, ears growing red with fury.

Malfoy and his group stopped laughing.

"What did you say?" Malfoy asked looking resentful towards Ron.

"Don't act like you don't remember," Ron cooed feeling very vindictive. "It hurts! It hurts Professor! I can't play Quidditch now! My arm is broken! The big bad Hippogriff broke my arm!" Ron was cradling his arm to his chest the way Malfoy had when he'd been injured by Buckbeak.

Hermione could smell danger from miles away.

"You dare?!" Pansy hissed at him. "You dare remind him of the horrible incident!"

Crabbe and Goyle started flexing their fingers and shooting menacing looks toward Ron, but Draco had something else on his mind.

"What are you hiding behind you?" He asked curiously and strode forward, pushing Ron aside till he came face to face with Hermione.

Pansy giggled.

"You were trying to hide your girlfriend from us?" she shock her head disappointed.

"Hey! Don't touch her!" Ron shouted and made to dash for Malfoy but Crabbe and Goyle jumped him.

Hermione didn't notice any of the scuffle going on around her, she was too preoccupied with Malfoy's eyes which were rooming all over her face, taking in every detail of her appearance. Her heart was suddenly beating out of rhythm as Draco's hand slowly lifted itself up to her cheek and brushed a strand of hair from her face and slowly twirled it between his fingers.

"You changed your looks." He remarked.

"What?" Ron was heard saying from somewhere in the background.

"She straightened her hair you big oaf," Pansy snapped and then a spark appeared in her eyes. "Don't tell me you didn't notice?!" she exclaimed giddily. Ron refused to meet her eyes. "Some boyfriend you are!"

_Boyfriend?_ Someone was complaining about her boyfriend? Hermione was wondering who and how her eyes had suddenly landed on the floor looking at a shining pair of shoes that seemed to be brand new. She wondered whose they were, and got the answer soon enough as her head was lifted by a delicate finger which was placed underneath her chin. Her eyes landed back on Draco's grey eyes and she was suddenly left wondering how she'd gotten here or why she'd even lowered her eyes in the first place.

Draco studied her face for a few more moment before declaring: "It suits you."

Hermione felt her cheeks burn up with embarrassment.

_It suits me? What suit me? _She had no idea.

"She's still a Mudblood." Pansy remarked icily drawing both Draco and Hermione's attention towards her. Draco's hand suddenly dropped from Hermione's face. "A pretty little Mudblood, that's all she is!"

"You take that back," Ron roared at her from Goyle's grip.

A chilling sensation overtook Hermione as Pansy's cold words washed over her, but even that was nothing compared to the numbness that overtook her when Draco said: "You're right. Let's go."

And he turned on his heals and walked away. Pansy followed, and so did Crabbe and Goyle after giving Ron a hard shove.

Ron picked himself off the floor and made to go after them, but Hermione grabbed his hand.

"Don't."

Ron took one look at her and pulled her into his arms.

"Don't listen to anything they say! They're just envious that you're better than them!"

Hermione didn't know how long the two of them sat like that, or which one of them was shaking. Ron out of fury, or her out of… what was it that she was so upset about? Pansy had called her that name before. And so had he… in her second year. He'd called her a Mudblood…wasn't that the reason why Diana had broke up with him? So why did it mater now? What made now so different that it would hurt her so?

"Hermione?"

It was Diana's voice. But it sounded a little off, riddled with worries and concerns.

"What happened?"

"We ran into Malfoy," Ron said as he gently handed Hermione over to Diana's warm embrace.

"I'll kill him," the red-haired said softly.

"I don't want that," Hermione said in a small and feeble voice. She slowly pushed herself out of Diana's embrace. Something wert fell on her sleeve and as she brought her hand to her eyes, she felt the tears that were still dripping down her face and hurriedly tried to wipe them away.

Diana gently placed her hands upon Hermione's and slowly pried them from her eyes and promised: "Then I'll beat him up and bring him to you, so you can pass judgment upon him."

She had such a serious look upon her face that Hermione couldn't help but burst into fits of laughter.

"I don't think that's going to help," she said between giggles. "I wouldn't know what to do with him," she added sullenly.

"You'll think of something until then," Diana assured.

"I have a few ideas up my sleeve," Ron said and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't we have classes?" Hermione said, feeling a little uncomfortable with the subject.

"You were late for Herbology, so Professor Sprout told me to come and find you two lovebirds," Diana said winking at her. "And honestly, I was expecting to find you two wrapped in each other's arms, but for completely different reasons."

Ron blushed and averted his eyes from them, while Hermione giggled slightly.

"Sorry to disappoint."

"That's alright," Diana waved her off.

"Should we go to class?" Ron asked feeling slightly uncomfortable.

Hermione nodded as she took Diana's hand and slipped her other hand in Ron's, and so the three made their descent towards Herbology.

-OOOOOO-

Hermione couldn't really stand being anywhere near Diana or Ron right now, since both of them kept pestering her about whether she was alright or not, so she went to sit by Heidi and Neville.

Not really feeling up to completing the assignment that Sprout had given them, she half heartedly picked up the shovel and aimlessly moved dirt around. After ten full minutes of endlessly scattering dirt, Heidi finally took the shovel from her fingers and instructed her to go sit beside Neville if she wasn't going to help. She did just that.

"What's got you so upset?" Hermione asked upon seeing Neville. She honestly didn't know what to do with herself right now, and it was a heck of a lot easier to concentrate on other people's problems than her own, as long as it was something to keep her mind occupied.

"Diana…" Neville said after a few seconds of silence. "She told me… she told me Ginny might have friend zoned me…"

Hermione was left staring for a while.

_Ah… So that's what got him so upset during History of Magic…_

Hermione had been the one to ask what had gotten him so upset… but now, she wasn't really glad she'd found out.

"Do you think…" Neville started to say a bit uncertain. "Do you think she's right?"

_Undoubtedly_, Hermione thought to herself miserably.

"I'm not sure," she said. "I mean, you did save her in second year… if there is anything close to a prince charming figure for her, that's you."

Neville turned to give her a confused look.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

_Nothing really. I'm just brainstorming for ideas to not completely shatter your confidence._

"Well…" Hermione clicked her tong and tried to form a coherent thought. "Girls at this age are very much into fairy tales, and they envision the man of their dream as some gallant, brave night who's going to save them in the nick of time, or a prince charming."

_Or maybe that's just me…_

"You kind of sort of fit the profile. You were the brave knight that saved her when You-Know-Who had kidnapped her last year. Only…"

_Only you don't really act the part so she was probably disappointed fairly early on by your cute personality…_

"Only?" Neville asked eagerly. Some life seemed to have returned to his eyes, and it looked like Hermione's next words might either break him or give him the much needed hope that he'd lost.

"Only, you've never given her any indication that you might like her as anything more than a friend…" Hermione said while trying to sound convincing. It was close enough to the truth. Girls did get discouraged if they thought the guy didn't like them back, and Neville had acted more like a concerned friend than any…

"You have to tell her that you like her!" Hermione said suddenly inspired by her inner monolog. "Let her know that you care for her as something more than a friend!"

Neville turned red as a tomato. "But, Hermione… what if she doesn't like me?"

"At least you'll know!" She snapped at him. "So what if she says she doesn't like you?! At least you'll know where you stand! And at least she'll know where you stand! Love can grow with time, but you can't just sit around and wait for it to sprout out of the ground on its own! You have to help it grow! You tell her how you feel! Let her know that every time you're there, you're doing this for _her_! That it's something special for you! That this is more than some little thing you'll do for any friend! And that you're willing to give her the time and space to decide on whether she wants to be there for you the same way you want to be there for her!"

Neville stood there rotten to the spot, gazing with absolute wonder at Hermione for a few minutes.

"What?!" Hermione asked peeved, finally getting irritate with his wondrous stare.

"Thanks…" Neville finally replied as he lowered his eyes to the ground.

"You're welcome." Hermione said, and she herself turned her gaze towards the blue vase in front of her.

She couldn't really explain it, but somehow the conversation with Neville had helped her feel better. It always made her feel better when she proved to be useful to someone else.

"I'm going to go and help Heidi," Hermione decided and slowly rose to her feel. Neville nodded absent mindedly, but Hermione was positive that he was feeling better.

Maybe she should ask Ron about her hairdo? And if he said he didn't like it… well, tough luck! It's not like she'd done this for his sake!

-OOOOOO-

Hermione didn't get to ask Ron anything by the time Divination class came around. And Neville himself hadn't apparently gotten to a decision about what he'd do with Ginny. He grumpily lowered himself in the seat next to Ron and kept shooting furtive glances at the other boy for some reason…

_Oh my God!_

Hermione nearly screamed at herself when she realized that Neville might be a little reluctant about making a move on Ginny since he was friends with Ron!

_Right, the guy pact! No messing with the other's girl, or sister… _

_I am such an idiot!_

She couldn't have predicted this turn of events… or maybe she could if she'd worried a little less about Malfoy and what Ron might think about here hairdo and paid a little more attention to Neville and his problems!

She desperately needed to brainstorm this one out with Heidi! She'd have some good ideas up her sleeve! But Heidi wasn't here! Divinations was not a subject the brunet was remotely interested in, so she'd declined to take it.

Hermione miserably lowered herself in the seat next to Diana.

_I'll talk to Heidi after class!_ she told herself.

"Good day to you!" said the familiar, misty voice, which startled Hermione out of her reverie. Professor Trelawney made her usual dramatic entrance out of the shadows.

"I have decided to introduce the crystal ball a little earlier than I had planned," said Professor Trelawney, sitting with her back to the fire and gazing around. "The fates have informed me that your examination in June will concern the Orb, and I am anxious to give you sufficient practice."

Hermione snorted. She really hated when Trelawney acted all high and mighty over such silly trivial things. Parvati and Lavender were already engrossed in the old woman's usual nonsensical babble that they failed to notice that Trelawney didn't need any faiths to tell her when and what the subjects for the exams would be since she was the one responsible for them!

Trelawney mumbled some nonsense about them trying to relax their "inner eyes" to see into the Orb's "infinite depth", and Hermione lost all interest in the subject. She was starting to think Heidi had had the right in not wasting time with this particular bore fest. There were uncontrollable sniggers coming from Ron and Neville's table for Hermione to be even remotely able to concentrate. Though she still acted like the model student that she was and stubbornly kept her gaze on the silly orb.

Not once did she see a thing in the half an hour or so that passed by in undisturbed boredom. And something was nagging away at her. Like something felt out of place, like there was something missing…

She turned her head towards her right, where she stumbled upon an unusual sight: Diana, her red-haired friend, had her eyes glued to the smoky orb on the table, a misty sort of look, that didn't quite seem to be in touch with reality was plastered on her face. It was, breathtaking! Like something mystical was happening in front of her, something that Trelawney always blabbed about but could never quite convey into actions, and quite frankly, it scared her! More than she was ever willing to admit to herself, or anyone for that matter.

"Diana."

She murmured in a soft, feeble voice as she reached out for her red-haired friend.

"Diana!"

She repeated a bit more forcefully and started shaking the red-haired.

"Diana!"

"What?"

This time the other girl came through. Her eyes became focused and her face shifted into an annoyed glare.

"Now, really!" said Professor Trelawney as she made her way towards their table. Hermione noticed that every head in the room was turned towards them as well. "You are disturbing the clairvoyant vibrations!"

For once, Hermione didn't feel like snorting at Trelawney's statement, though Diana wasn't nearly as tactful as her.

"There is something here!" Professor Trelawney whispered, as she lowered her head towards their orb. Hermione's breath caught in her throat.

"Something moving… but what is it?"

Was Trelawney going to reveal to them what Diana had been so intently staring at in the crystal ball?

"My dear," Professor Trelawney breathed, gazing up at them. "It is here, plainer than ever before…"

Hermione gave a slight shudder.

"My dear, stalking toward you, growing ever closer… the Gr —"

"Are you kidding me?!" Hermione snapped as soon as the Gr was out of Trelawney's mouth. "Just when I was fooled into believing you finally had something remotely interesting to say, you stomp down to the same low standards!" She snapped feeling disgusted. "You've done nothing but wail and wine about this Grim thing since we got here, and guess what?! Nothing even remotely horrible has happened to us!"

Trelawney had a look of pure indignation on her face.

"Well, I am sorry to say that from the moment you have arrived in this class my dear, it has been apparent that you do not have what the noble art of Divination requires. Indeed, I don't remember ever meeting a student whose mind was so hopelessly mundane."

"Fine!" Hermione snapped looking affronted. "Fine!" She picked up her belongings and dumped them in her bag and promptly sat up. "I give up! I'm leaving!"

And to the whole class's amazement, and more so to her own astonishment, she strode over to the trap door, descended the stairs and slammed the door shut on her way out. And she felt damn good while doing so!

Seriously, she should have done this ages ago!

Hermione went straight to Professor McGonagall's office, and petitioned her for the necessary papers to withdraw from Divination. McGonagall was slightly shocked, but was also very understanding and wasted no time with helping her get through the paperwork.

Hermione arrived 10 minutes late for Ancient Runes. Caught up with Trelawney and here stupid predictions, she'd nearly forgotten that she had Ancient Runes today as well. She excused herself to her professor, who waved her off, and promptly took her seat beside Heidi.

"What took you so long?" The brunet asked, giving her a suspicious glance.

"I quit Divination!" Hermione announced proudly.

Heidi gaped at her surprised, but then, her expression turned to a proud smile.

"Finally got the guts to stand up for yourself, didn't cha?"

"Yep!"

"How does it feel?"

"Good!"

Heidi gave a mirthful laugh, and Hermione hurriedly tried to shush here before she disturbed the professor's class.

"Careful there, my friend," Heidi warned. "Or else your reputation as a teacher's pet and honor student might get irreparably damaged!"

Hermione rolled her eyes at the brunet.

"I don't think I care much right now!"

When Ancient Runes was over, Hermione and Heidi parted ways, as the brunet had Quidditch practice, while Hermione headed towards the Library to work on Hagrid's case.

She'd forgotten all about it for today! And was feeling a little bit ashamed with herself that she let the vain and unimportant things get in the way of her helping her friend. But she was going to remedy that by pulling a few good hours of work into the project.

The only one she found in the Library was Diana.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked puzzled. "It's a Wednesday. Don't you have quire practice?"

"I do. But, I had to see you."

It was weird. She felt weird. Something was really off about Diana today, and Hermione was starting to feel the chills running up her spine.

"This might sound a little odd," Diana started saying, and Hermione resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her.

"But, I saw something today," the red haired continued, and Hermione honestly wanted to scream at the girl to shut her mouth.

"Yeah, I acted a little weird," Hermione said, as means to distract the girl. "I'm sorry if I worried you!" She wanted to shut her up. She really did not want to hear what Diana had to say! She had no idea why, but she really didn't! "I have to go do research on Hagrid's case!" she quickly said and scurried to walk pass the red-haired, but Diana grabbed her hand and said:

"Your clock won't ring tomorrow! And she'll be mad, my sister. I don't know why, but she was mad. That's all."

And with that, Diana turned on her heals and walked away.

It took several minutes for Hermione to recover. It took her several more to start analyzing what the red-haired said. And it was Luna Lovegood's arrival that snapped Hermione back to reality.

She had her small hand waving in front of Hermione, a slight concerned (or as concerned as Luna Lovegood could look with those unseeing eyes of hers) plastered on her face.

"You feeling alright?" Luna asked.

"Um," Hermione scratched her head looking around a little dazed. "Yeah, I guess."

"You've been spacing out for a really long time," Luna remarked. "Looks like you have something on your mind. Or it could be the Nargles"

"I do actually," Hermione nodded. "Have something on my mind that is, not Nargles."

"But you don't want to share," Luna remarked.

"It's not really that," Hermione struggled to explain.

"You don't want to think about it."

And Hermione nodded.

"I have something that would take your mind off of whatever it is that's bothering you," Luna said. "Hagrid sent me to get you."

-OOOOOO-

"Professor Dumbledore managed to get you off the hook?!" Hermione exclaimed.

She was currently at Hagrid's Hut with Luna at her side, and Hagrid was regaling her again with the story of how Dumbledore had saved him from Azkaban. Basically, he'd vouched for him in Buckbeak's trial, and that had been enough to get him off the hook, since Dumbledore was still highly respected within the Ministry and his word held quite a lot of authority there. It wasn't impressive work, just a stroke of influence in the right place, but it had done the job, and Hermione was more than glad for the good news.

"But there was nothin' he could do 'bout Buckbeak," Hagrid said morosely.

Hermione remembered that Draco Malfoy was the cause of all this uproar to begin with, and a pang of annoyance creped up inside Hermione. It was small at first, but it kept developing throughout the rest of the day, building up and spurring her on, back to the library, back to work, so she could find a way to wipe that ridiculously charming grin off his face. Oh, she really wanted to see him suffer!

She didn't find a single damn thing by the time evening came around, and even though she'd taken enough books to annoy Madam Pinns she wasn't having much luck in the common room either. Heidi had annoyed her to no end when she'd said she wasn't interested in the Hippogriff.

"You and I both read the law! It's a miracle that Hagrid managed to escape conviction, because if these guys would abide by their own rules, he shouldn't have! I think that's more than we have any right to ask for!"

She understood Heidi. She really did! But she also couldn't forgive Draco Malfoy! For being such a prick to Hagrid, of course!

"Hello! Earth to Hermione!" Ron said waving his hands in front of Hermione. "You look like you want to strangle someone," he said semi-jokingly.

"So what if I do?" Hermione snapped without thinking. "Am… I mean…"

"Sorry," Ron apologized and was quick to fall silent.

"No! Ron, you don't have to apologize!" Hermione was quick to assure him. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you!"

"Why?" Ron asked somewhat uncomfortable. "Isn't it me? The one you want to strangle…"

Hermione glared at him.

"No! Why on earth would you think that?"

"Well, because I didn't remark your," and he pointed at his hair.

"Oh!" Hermione said lapsing into an awkward silence. She'd forgotten about that… But now she remembered.

"I'm not really mad about that," Hermione said.

Ron's head rose up. "Really?"

"I mean, not anymore," Hermione corrected herself.

"Oh." Ron looked dejected again.

"I've decided that I like my hair like this and that I'll keep it this way!" Hermione said proud of herself.

"I like it too," Ron said in a barely audible voice.

"Excuse me?" Hermione asked, not sure if she'd misheard him.

"I like it too," the red-haired stated a little louder this time. "And I guess I didn't take notice of it because you always look good, no matter how you choose to style your hair."

Ron was red in the face, so much so that you couldn't even tell where his hair ended and his face began. He had his eyes lowered to the ground, and you could clearly see that it took a lot for him to say those words.

"Ron."

"Yeah," Ron said as he slowly lifted his face to look at Hermione. And just like that their lips met. Hermione had flung herself at him, arms wrapped around his neck, puling him towards her, eyes softly closed and lips pressed firmly to Ron's.

Ron was so surprised he didn't even have time to reciprocate before Hermione pulled away, just as fast as she'd come, looking around extremely embarrassed. Luckily for them, they were sitting behind the couch, so no one had seen them.

"Right," Hermione said in her business like tone. "It's getting late, and I should be going to sleep," and she picked up her books and left.

She was so embarrassed and giddy she tossed and turned in her sleep that night, but somehow, she was quite annoyed with herself as well. Why should she feel bad about kissing Ron? Because she totally didn't! He was her boyfriend! It was what couples did, right? Plus, no one had seen them, so it's not like anyone could tease her about it!

_Oh my god! If Diana finds out I'm dead! _

Hermione mumbled to herself and fell into a restless sleep.

-OOOOOO-

"Diana pas me the towel from my trunk please!" someone screeched so loud it scared the living daylight out of her.

"Alright, but I'm not waiting for you to dry your hair!" another voice screamed. "My sister will kill me if I'm late!"

"Damn you for being so loud in the morning!" another voice remarked.

_Not like you're any better yourself_! Hermione wanted to remark.

"It's time to wake up either way Parvati!" the first voice remarked. "We're gonna be late for class!"

_Late…? Late!_

"Oh, my god! I'm late!" Hermione screeched as she got out of bed.

"What?!" "Hermione?!" Parvati and Lavender remarked surprised.

"You're still here?!" Lavender asked.

Hermione paid her no mind. She dashed for the bathroom, splashed water across her face, brushed her teeth in a frenzy and hurriedly changed clothes.

"I'm late! Damn it! I'm so late!"

"No duh!" Lavender said. "But are you going out with that hairdo?!"

_Hairdo?_ Hermione barely registered what Lavender was saying, up until she reached the foot of the stairs and bumped into Ron.

"Oh my god!? What happened to your hair?" He asked, half way between giggling uncontrollably and being down right horrified.

"Of all times, you had to pick this day to pay attention to my hair?!" Hermione screeched at him. She rushed back upstairs, bumping into Parvati and Lavender along the way and locked herself in the bathroom.

_Relax, Hermione! You can still fix this! You have all the time in the world! _She told herself firmly and started working on her hair.

It took her almost and hour to straighten that stubborn hair. And when she was done, she pulled out the hour glass shaped medallion from around her neck and turned it once.

It just then struck her, as she exited the bathroom, way before anyone else had woken up, at how strange it was. Her alarm clock hadn't ringed. How strange…

She decided to check it later as she picked up her books and rushed to the Great Hall. She hurriedly gobbled her food up, so as to not be discovered there by anyone who'd just missed her and made her way for her first class of the day.

Today was a Thursday. She had Muggle Study/Arithmancy and Transfigurations in the morning, Lunch, and then Potions DADA and then Care of Magical Creatures in the afternoon. It felt like a regular day. It should be and ordinary day, and yet… all the while there was a nagging feeling in the back of her head like she'd forgotten something, something important, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what exactly that was…

She was grabbed by the elbow and shoved hard into an empty classroom by someone, so much so that she barely managed to keep standing on her feet.

"Hello there, sweetheart."

She knew that voice.

"Heidi!?" Hermione asked startled.

"Looks like it worked," the brunet remarked as she held up Hermione's alarm clock and showed it to her. She brought up the Marauder's Map in the other hand and said: "6:30 you suddenly popped into existence in the bathroom stall, though you were still asleep in your bed since last night, and in fact, there you still are," Heidi pointed at the Gryffindor common room, where Hermione's dot was still standing on her bed, with Diana's dot heading out the door, Lavender had just come out of the bathroom, and Parvati had just begun to stir.

Hermione gulped.

"Would you like me to tell you how many more of you are running through the school right now?" Heidi asked mockingly, eyebrows raised and a dangerous smile that chilled Hermione to the bone plastered on her face.

Hermione swallowed thickly, and willed her beating heart to calm down before it imploded out of her chest. This was it! There was no bluffing her way out of this one! She was so screwed!


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: Face Off**

"So, I was thinking maybe we could practice on a real Dementor!" Diana said enthusiastically, and Lupin sighed exasperated.

"I'm not so certain you're ready yet."

It was the middle of March, and the last Quidditch match of the month Slytherin vs Hufflepuff had finally come to a closure, with a disappointing score of 230 – 20 for Slytherin. The Gryffindor household had finally managed to garnet some respect from the Reps, after Angelina Johnson had brazenly shown off during the Ravenclaw match and managed to score 110 points by herself (which, unfortunately, didn't win them the match). And, unfortunately, that spelled bleak news for Gryffindor. There were currently 2 Quidditch matches left to be played, Ravenclaw vs Hufflepuff scheduled for the beginning of April, and Gryffindor vs Slytherin, which was the season ender, schedules on the 14th of May. As of yet, the scores stood as following: 1st place Slytherin with 410 points; 2nd place Gryffindor with 300 points; 3rd place Ravenclaw with 290 points, and last place Hufflepuff with 220 points. As it stood right now, only a miracle would help Gryffindor win the House Cup, and everyone was demoralized. The Representatives were praising Slytherin's play style and their brilliant strategizing, and it looked like barely one if any players from the other team were getting any kind of recognition for the Reps.

Diana couldn't stand it! She was so pissed at the whole ordeal, on every single one of her house member's behalf that she wanted to go out and punch someone! But she wasn't really allowed to do that, so she decided to work with what she had, and that was her Anti-Dementor lessons, where she considered herself good enough to take a real Dementor by now! Or, maybe it was Snape and his constant whining getting to her, she really didn't know, but she needed to blow off some steam.

And Lupin was very much aware of this, but he didn't believe that the little puffs of smoke she was producing that barely resembled a form would help her against a Dementor. And even if she could cast an actual Patronus, he still wouldn't want to send her up against one! Though it had started to bug him that the red-haired had become so emotionally unstable that she'd been unable to cast that beautiful doe after her first successful attempt.

"But we've gotten good!" Diana insisted.

"I don't want to face an actual Dementor," Luna remarked, and the rest of the group nodded.

"Diana, relax!" Heidi told her firmly, leveling her with one of her pointed looks. "You won't be facing any Dementor, and let's pray you never have to."

"Let's pray none of us have to," Hermione added, and Neville nodded his consent while Diana glowered at them.

"Shall we go visit Fluffy?" Luna asked in her dreamy voice. "Hagrid told me he was feeling rather left out as of late."

"Yeah," Neville agree. "It's been a while since we've seen him!"

"Can't," Heidi remarked. "Quidditch practice. Gotta run!"

And the brunet slid her backpack on her shoulder and was out the door before anyone could say anything.

"Well, she's as rude as ever," Diana remarked.

"She's stresses," Hermione reminded.

"So am I!"

"Kids!" Lupin said, drawing their attention. "I think we're all a little stresses, given all the things that have happened."

"Oh! Yes," Diana nodded adopting a dramatic tone. "Especially with Sirius Black still on the loose."

Hermione turned to give the red-haired a bewildered look. Why would Diana chose to mention Black all of a sudden?

Lupin froze on his way to the door, probably wondering the same thing.

"Yes, it's rather tragic," he remarked. "Have you had any more encounters with him, as of late?" he asked cautiously.

"Oh, no!" Diana assured, shaking her head. "It's just dreadful that he's on the loose when we haven't managed to locate poor Pettigrew! Ron's rat I mean. Poor thing! Can you imagine what Black would do to him if he managed to catch him?"

Lupin nodded, not looking very reassuring.

"Yes, I most certainly can. But, best if you kinds not worry about that! I'm certain Black would have no use for Ron's rat unless he's really, really hungry."

Diana gasped, surprised and covered her mouth with her hand.

"By the way professor, did you managed to find that news paper with Ron's family?" Neville asked.

"Yes, I did," Lupin assured them. "Now, come on kids, I think we've kept this room occupied quit long enough."

"Please tell us if you managed to spot poor Scabbers anywhere," Luna asked politely as the children pilled out of the classroom. "Ron has been rather insistent about finding him."

"I most certainly will," Lupin assured and locked the door to the History of Magic class room behind him. "You kids have a nice day now."

"You too professor!"

The kids chorused and waved at him.

"What are you guys trying to do?" Hermione turned on them as soon as Lupin was out of earshot.

"We were just trying to determine whether Lupin found out about Pettigrew," Diana told her.

"Well, could you be less obvious about it," Hermione scolded them. "Else professor Lupin might notice!"

"Maybe I want him to notice," Diana said simply.

"She doesn't mean that!" Neville was quick to reassure Hermione when the curly-haired gave an outrageous shout.

"No! I mean it!" Diana quickly disproved Neville's saying. "I'm sick of hearing people bad-mouth my godfather, when he's innocent! And he really could use a friend right now!"

Hermione looked displeased at her. "There's no proving he's innocent until we have Pettigrew!"

"I know that!" Diana snapped, and the conversation ended there.

The quintet didn't have much else to do that day, the Hippogriff trial had ended, and now Hagrid was merely waiting on the executioner. Hogwarts Library was pretty much useless when it came to anything related to the Cruciatus so the kids couldn't work on finding a cure for Neville's parents either. It was just boring little homework and checking the Marauders' map for Pettigrew waiting for them back in Gryffindor tower. Well, that and Quidditch news, as soon as Heidi got back from training that evening.

"I feel like my legs turn to mush as soon as I mount that broom, and my balance is off," Heidi whined as she settled down next to them. "It takes me a little while to get use to being in the air."

"Well, you shouldn't push yourself," Diana cautioned. "And perhaps you should make another visit to Madam Pomfrey! The fever you suffered was pretty nasty, and if it hasn't run its course by now, you should be weary of a relapse."

"It was just a flu, not a cancer cell," Heidi said laughing.

"Well, it's proving to have the effects of something more durable," Diana insisted. "Are you sure it wasn't an infection of some kind?"

"Positive," Heidi assured laughing lightly, but on the inside, she was starting to get paranoid with every passing day, and every single moment when Diana started taking interest in her condition. Her sister was becoming too nosy for Heidi's piece of mind. "If you don't believe me you can take that up with Madam Pomfrey," she advised, and that brought an end to all discussions. Her sister wanted to be part of Madam Pomfrey's special curriculum class, so she was very much inclined to agree with everything the nurse said.

"So, what are your plans for the upcoming Quidditch match?" Neville asked, hoping to steer the subject from what seemed to be a sensitive issue for Heidi.

Heidi grimaced.

"Not much really," she said dejected. "We're 120 points behind Slytherin, and in order to win the Quidditch Cup, we just have to make certain we don't fall more than 30 points behind them for the upcoming match, since we get 150 points just for me catching the Snitch, but we want to win the House Cup as well."

"That shouldn't be too hard," Neville remarked.

"Well, that's the strategy for _if I can play and catch the Snitch_ plan," Heidi said. "I mean, given how I'm progressing, I'm expecting to be able to, but in case I can't play, they're gonna have to come up with a strategy to make Ginny catch the Snitch before Malfoy."

"Oh…." Neville said, suddenly not feeling very reassured.

"We'll help," Hermione picked in.

"Of course we will," Diana reassured and Heidi looked grateful at the lot of them.

-OOOOO—

"Diana when you said _we'll help_, I don't think Heidi was expecting this kind of help," Neville said as he hurried after the red-haired.

Diana and Neville were huddled underneath the invisibility cloak, rushing towards the Quidditch stand at 7 sharp on a Tuesday morning, where the Slytherin Quidditch team was going to begin their morning practice. Neville knew it wasn't good manners to spy on people, so he tried to convince his red-haired friend that if they'd be caught they'd have to endure harsh consequences, and so will the Gryffindor Quidditch team too, because he wasn't dumb enough to think Heidi's give two rat's ass about sportsmanship and winning a game honorably.

"Will you stop being such a coward!" Diana snapped, as the two enter the Quidditch Stadium and made their way up the stands.

Judging by the noise of fluttering clothes and raised voices, Neville assumed that the training had already started.

"Hurry up!" Diana rushed him, and Neville tripped, falling behind and slipping from underneath the cloak.

"Neville!" Diana said peeved at his clumsiness and doubled back to cover him with the invisibility cloak. "Come on!" she spurred him on, and Neville nodded as he raised himself up and matched his pace to hers.

They finally emerged onto the top stands, only to come upon a very disappointing sight. It wasn't Flint and his little Slytherin rascals that were using the field, but rather, Diggory and the Hufflepuff that were soaring around the place.

"Did you maybe confuse the dates?" Neville asked.

"No. It clearly said on the announcement board that the Slytherins will be using the Pitch in the morning," Diana responded peeved.

"Maybe it wasn't today," Neville suggested.

"But I saw-"

Diana didn't get to finish her sentence because, the two of them had to duck since one of the Hufflepuff players headed directly for their stand, circled it once, and doubled back.

"Stop fooling around Dwaine!" Diggory yelled at him, and the player returned back to the formation.

"I think we better get out of here," Neville suggested.

"Right," Diana nodded, and the two made their way towards the exit.

-OOOOO—

"You're learning Occlumency?" Hermione asked looking impressed.

"I have to learn to keep Dumbledore out of my head," Heidi insisted. "And anyone like him!"

"Do you really think Professor Snape can-" Hermione asked a little bit frightened.

"I'm certain of it!" Heidi insisted. There was no way the greasy old bath couldn't read someone's mind… well, excuse her, couldn't Legilimate someone.

"Hermione, if we want to keep our secrets, than we must learn to protect our thoughts!"

"I completely agree with you!" Hermione assured.

"And this will be extra useful for what we plan to do," Heidi reminded shrewdly.

Hermione gulped.

"I'm not so certain that's a good idea," she said, voicing her worries.

"No! It is! And please stop chickening out, since you were the one who proposed it!" Heidi reminded. "And, need I remind you, you were hoping to do this by yourself."

"I was thinking about doing it," Hermione said. "I could always back out…."

"Like a coward!"

"Sometimes, I think its better being a coward," Hermione said meekly.

"Stop stalling! We don't have much time till we need to be down for breakfast!" Heidi insisted. "Now, as far as this book says, the best way to start Occlumency is to meditate to keep your mind blank for an hour before you sleep every night."

"Right," Hermione nodded. "That's the easy part."

"You think so?" Heidi asked. "Cause I've tried and it's pretty damn hard to not think about anything for even a few minutes, let alone an hour!"

Hermione grimaced.

"It can't be that difficult, else there wouldn't be so many people who practiced the art," she said reasonably.

"True," Heidi nodded. "And, the second thing seam so be: Compartmentalize your memories, starting by labeling any new memory you make into small little categories and making connections between the new and old ones. This will help the future Occlumencer to arrange and manage his memories as an organized group rather than a flux of information. And once the wizard has managed to automatically compartmentalize memories upon making them, it will become easier for him to retrieve necessary information, but also, it will be easier for the wizard to place mental barriers upon the designated areas, or memory groups which he considers private, and therefore doesn't want other people to see."

"How does organizing our memories work?" Hermione asked.

"Not really sure," Heidi said. "But, let's start simple. Let's say that this memory right now, of us reading the Occlumency and Legillimancy book is going to be categorized as 'forbidden', and the memory after that with us going to eat should be 'breakfast'. And any memory of a class should be categorized by the respective class's name, and so on."

"Okay," Hermione nodded, still looking somewhat apprehensive. "I think I can do that…"

"Okay, than let's start the experiment," Heidi said as she closed the book, shrank it, and placed it in a small box inside her backpack and then locked it. "The 'forbidden' part of the memory is over, and we're now heading towards the 'breakfast' half."

She stood up and walked out of the empty classroom they had been using and Hermione followed behind her.

When they arrived at breakfast, it was to find a very dejected looking Diana and Neville.

"What's got you so down?" Hermione said. "We haven't even started the Pettigrew watch yet to say you're bored to tears?"

"It's not that," Neville reassured. "By the way have you found anything?" he asked Hermione, and the curly-haired shuck her head.

"Sis, weren't the Slytherins supposed to be practicing this morning on the Quidditch Field?" Diana asked Heidi as soon as she sat down.

"Maybe," Heidi said. "It's never quite sure when Snape'll decide on the flip of a dime that he wants to cancel practice, or but into other people's Practice time. Why?"

"Well, Neville and I were just passing by the Quidditch pitch and-"

"Thought it'll be nice to spy on them?" Hermione asked in an accusatory tone.

"What?! No! We were just passing by!" Diana insisted and Neville rolled his eyes at her.

"Like I'd believe such a blatant lie!" Hermione snapped. "That was very shameful of you!" She seemed to be directing all her anger at Diana, but soon rounded on Neville as well. "And you shouldn't go along with her!"

"Well, I'm grateful for your attempts," Heidi said.

"What?!" Hermione asked sounding more peeved.

"So am I," Ginny said coming up beside them, and Neville's face seemed to instantly light up. "Morning!"

"Morning!" The quartet chorused, and Hermione asked her to: "Please stop encouraging them!"

Ginny nodded towards the curly-haired, but gave a quick wink to Neville and Diana, who grinned at her.

"Don't be so upset at them Hermione," Ron said striding in behind Ginny and making his way toward the brown-haired. "They were trying to do one for the team." He said and sat down. "I see you have your hair curled up today," he remarked and Hermione groaned as everyone from the table began to snicker.

"Ron, you don't have to comment on my hair style every time you walk in the hall at breakfast," Hermione said as she leaned over and gave him a peak on the cheek. She also whispered in his ear: "It's kind of embarrassing, and has become somewhat of a joke around the table at breakfast." And she leaned back in her seat.

Ron's ears turned as red as a tomato's as he was confronted with the snickering faces of all his friends, and he made a rude gesture towards them which had Hermione shaking her head in disapproval.

The morning mail began flowing in, and Heidi was surprised to see Ruby land with a thump, straight into her soup, with a small note tied to her leg.

"Must be from Hagrid," the girl said, not thinking much about it as she took the letter from the owl's leg and pulled Ruby out of the soup and placed her on a napkin.

The letter was small and it had only one line: '_You still haven't caught the Heir of Slytherin._' written in a neat tidy style, which turned Heidi's eyes to slides.

"Something wrong sis?" Diana asked looking concerned at her sister.

Heidi crushed the piece of parchment in her hands before looking up brightly.

"It was just Hagrid, calling us over for tea," she said pleasantly and grabbed a biscuit from the plate and gave it to Ruby to pick at.

As soon as they were done with breakfast the gang separated, Ginny and Luna made their way up the marble stairs alongside Hermione, while Ron and Neville headed for the great Oak Doors since they had a free period and Diana was just about to go after them, when her sister suddenly yanked her by the hand and dragged her towards the first classroom from right before the stairs and locked the door behind them.

"What the hell are you planning?" Heidi hisses menacingly. "Sending that message through mail so that it could be intercepted and having it brought to me in the middle of breakfast! Have you lost your wits by any chance?"

"What are you talking about sis?" Diana asked concerned.

Heidi smiled, a nasty sinister smile, as her eyes seemed to glow red. She slowly started making her way forward towards Diana who had frozen up in shock upon seeing the change, and was suddenly paralyzed with fear.

"Voldemort?" she asked frightened as she took a few steppes back.

"Cut the pretence brother," Heidi hisses impatiently. "I know you're in there. If you wish to talk, than come out and do so!"

Diana suddenly froze on the spot, eyes going glassy, like a puppet whose strings have just been cut. And then, suddenly, she moved, straightening her stance, cracking her neck and opening her eyes wide, her red eyes.

"Well, well, this is quite a pleasant surprise," Diary-Riddle said jovially. "Never expected to see another one of my Horcrux here. You'll have to excuse me if I don't know who you are, I believe you were created after my time."

"Indeed I was," Locket-Riddle responded nodding his head, and his hands reached out into Heidi's shirt and pulled out the golden locket from around her neck.

"The Slytherin Locket?" Diary-Riddle whispered amazed. "You found it?"

"Yes, but I'm sure we can both agree this is not the time or place to be catching up on old tales!" Locket-Riddle said and Diary-Riddle nodded. "Now, tell me what are you doing here and what was the purpose of that message you sent me?"

"I was merely trying to distract your little girl in order to give my servant leeway to visit me," Diary-Riddle said nonchalantly. "What about you, dear brother, what are you doing here?" he asked interested.

"I shall answer your questions tonight, when we are alone, secured under a few powerful privacy wards, in a classroom of our choosing and with no praying eyes in sight," Locket-Riddle said. "For now, regrettably, Heidi has Arithmancy to attend to."

"Very well," Diary-Riddle nodded, and calmly made his way to the door and unlocked it. "Till later," he said pleasantly and stepped out into the hallway, chasing after Ron and Neville.

"There you are!" Neville remarked.

"Thought we'd lost you!" Ron said.

"Sorry" Diana said, shaking her head lightly. "I must have spaced out."

"No worries." Ron assured. "So, about that sneaking to the Slytherin's practice you guys have going around –"

Locket-Riddle watched them exit the Double Door, and soon began making his way up the stairs to the 7th floor, where the Arithmency class will take place, as he safely tucked the locked inside his robes.

"Heidi!" Hermione whispered furiously upon spotting her and motioned for her to hurry up. It seemed the teacher had already arrived and had entered the classroom. Heidi quickened her pace for fear that she might get scolded, while shaking her head lightly to clear it. She didn't know why, but there was a strange sensation creeping up inside her, like she'd forgotten something important for some reason. But she brushed the thing from her mind as she entered the Arithmancy classroom.

-OOOOO—

Wood and the rest of the Quidditch team had gathered inside one of the empty classrooms close to the Gryffindor tower to discus their plan for the upcoming match.

"Okay, team, this is the big one!" Wood remarked. "This is the one that will either make us victorious, or proclaim us as losers. And we don't want the second option!"

The team nodded their consent.

"We have enough time to devise a strategy and train so that when the game comes, it'll work perfectly!" Wood assured, and the rest nodded. "And that's exactly what we're here to do today!"

"So, how do you propose we win the match Wood?" George (or was it Fred?) asked him.

"It's not that hard," Wood assured. "It's actually rather easy, when you think about it," he said, looking very proud about the plan that he'd thought out. "Heidi has to catch the Snitch within the first minute of the game!" he proclaimed beaming.

The other players stared at him.

"That it?" the other twin asked, and the rest of the team stared questioningly at him.

"Yes," Wood responded. "That's it. It's our best option," he insisted. "Flint still thinks that our Seeker for the match will be Weasley, and that means he thinks that our strategy will be the same from up until now: a point war. He thinks we'll aim to keep the match going for as long as possible in order to outscore them, so when Draco catches the Snitch it'll still be our victory. And Flint will aim to crush us by outscoring us instead, to make our defeat seem even more bitter. So, we do the opposite instead: We beat them, in a quick match! 150 points is enough to win us both the match, and the House Cup. We really don't need to bother scoring on them at all!"

"That sounds like a great plan Wood, only one problem," Heidi spoke up as soon as Wood was done talking. "What if I don't catch the Snitch is time? I mean, I got really lucky with that Hufflepuff match last year, since the Snitch was kind of lazy and chose to fly in a straight line, but I'm not so sure it'll happen again this year…. Or, what if I can't play?"

The other players agreed with her raised issues, and turned to Wood for a solution.

"You can play!" Wood said confidently. "You're just a little rusty for being off a broom for so long, but I assure you that you can play! And, of course the rest of the team will support you in case the Snitch decides to become hard to locate." Wood assured. "We'll try to keep the scoring difference between us to less than 30 points, as mentioned previously, but our best bet is still catching the Snitch before Slytherin manages to get too ahead of us."

"Sounds to me like you're expecting them to outscore us!" Angelina remarked sounding peeved.

"It'll be a terrible mistake to underestimate them," Wood scolded her. "I'm not saying we're a worse team than they are, we're better! But we're also more honest. We'll play a fair game, and we've had a bad season for most of the year, while they are one step away from being crowned champions and getting the reps' approval! They'll be playing at their dirtiest, if only to make sure they'll get the prize!"

The other members of the team nodded, not looking quite so confident.

"Hey! Stop pitying yourselves!" Wood snapped at them. "We're still the best damn team this school has ever seen, and we're gonna prove it by beating their cheating asses in the upcoming match!"

Quite a few of the members seem to cheer up at Wood's encouraging words. Heidi and Alicia Spinnet were not one of them.

"But Wood," Alicia said. "What if they decided to go for a quick match as well?" she asked. "We assume that they'll want to fight us for a point war in order to humiliate us, but what if that's wrong? What if they decided that they're enough points ahead and just want to go for a Quick match instead?"

The rest of the team turned to Wood, eagerly anticipating his response to the question.

Wood seemed to be considering what to say for a moment, before his face broke up into a mocking grin.

"You really think they _can_ go for a quick game with Malfoy as their Seeker?" He asked sarcastically, and the entire team erupted into fits of laughter.

-OOOOO—

It was midnight when Heidi and Diana rose from their beds. Both carefully spelling their movement silent, as Diana pulled out the invisibility cloak and Heidi took out the Marauders' map. Diana draped the cloak over the both of them, and Heidi checked the map first to locate Dumbledore, still pacing his office, and then to check if there were any teachers patrolling nearby.

The twins smoothly made their way down the stairway that led up to the dorms, into the Common Room, and exited the portrait door swiftly. The fat Lady seemed to have gone on one of her nightly errands, so wasn't present to see the two of them off. Heidi guided Diana into the class room the Quidditch team had uses earlier that day for their meeting and the two locked the door behind them, and started casting a number of privacy spells upon the door and room they were in. After they were finished, Heidi once again checked the map to make sure no one had followed them, or no teachers were nearby.

"It's safe," she said, red eyes gleaming.

Diary-Riddle nodded.

"So, tell me dear brother, how long have you been here?" he asked. "I never felt your presence, so you must have arrived here before me."

"Yes. If you indeed made your way into the school by the girls' second year, than yes. I have almost half a year on you," Locket-Riddle responded.

"And the purpose of you're being here is?"

Locket-Riddle smiled mysteriously.

"My purpose was ordained by our eldest brother. He however didn't mention anything about you. Are you acting on your own? Or do you have some orders from him?"

"I've never actually met with Voldemort," Diary-Riddle said. "I suddenly found myself into a young girl's hands, and being bored with doing nothing for half a century, I decided to play along. No real deep reason for me being here. But you are here because of Voldemort? Why? What does he want with the girls?"

"There was a prophecy," Locket-Riddle said.

"A prophecy?" Diary-Riddle asked intrigued.

"Yes," Locket-Riddle nodded. "About one who had the power to take him down. Our dearest brother never really heard it to the end, but that old bath: Trelawney, made a prophecy about someone who would apparently be Voldemort's downfall. After the incident 13 years ago, Voldemort decided it might be one of the Potter twins, or both. So, when he infiltrated the school almost two years ago, he paid close attention to the Potter twins, in order to determine which one would be his downfall. He was however too much excluded from the girls, what with inhabiting the body of a teacher, so he decided to send me instead. He picked the one who would have been more easily persuaded to the Dark Side."

Diary-Riddle nodded.

"Yes. Diana is a radical good person."

"True that," Locket-Riddle nodded. "I was delivered to Heidi on Christmas day of that year, and I have been with her ever since. And over the years, I've influenced a few of her decisions, manipulated her into letting down her defenses, until I've managed to gain control over her and then I began my search for our older brother."

"You have?" Diary-Riddle asked amazed. "And have you found him?"

"Yes," Locket-Riddle said, smiling triumphantly. "I've found him, our old wand, and I've also managed to make Heidi mistrustful so much so that she even hates Dumbledore for trying to Legilimate her at the moment."

Diary-Riddle whistled impressed.

"Impressive work, for only three years," he remarked.

"Yes, I am rather proud of myself," Locket-Riddle said. "Though I haven't found out anything about the prophecy. The twins know nothing, and Dumbledore is keeping everything to himself." He gave an annoyed twist of the head. "Though, I've managed to make Heidi sufficiently paranoid that she's started to become suspicious of my existence. So I had to hide myself from her, and only come out when she's dreaming or force her into a dream like state. But now that she's learning Occlumency, she'll soon be able to figure me out…"

"Does it really matter?" Diary-Riddle asked. "If you found our brother, than what is the point of you staying here? Why not go to him and help revive him?"

"That is exactly what I intend to do," Locker-Riddle assured. "I've contacted one of our old followers, you will remember him, William Norbert. He's running Saint Mugoes."

Diary-Riddle nodded.

"A loyal man, as far as I remember."

"Still loyal to our cause," Locket-Riddle assured. "He's been helping me. I'll be leaving this place with him during the next time he contacts me."

"So soon?" Diary-Riddle asked.

"I need to get ahead of Dumbledore and help restore our Elder Brother before the old goat starts to suspect," Locket-Riddle said. "But, I am loath to leave this place without supervision. Do you think you can do that for us?"

"Of course," Diary-Riddle nodded. "Diana is completely under my control," he assured. "She tells me everything, as I am her faithful confident. I can stay and try to uncover the matter of the prophecy for us."

"How did you get here anyway?" Locket-Riddle asked.

"Lucius Malfoy was bored," Diary-Riddle said.

"That little sleazy bastard gave you up?" Locket-Riddle asked annoyed.

"You shouldn't really hold a grudge," Diary-Riddle advised. "Since everything did turn up for our benefit after all. I'll remain here and try to distance the girls from Dumbledore, while you go and revive our older self. If it turned out that the girls are indeed the prophesized ones to kill us, I'll drain Diana's life and kill Heidi while I make my way to you. If not?"

"Than you might have to kill Neville Longbottom," Locke-Riddle said. "He is the other candidate for the prophecy."

Diary-Riddle laughed.

"Are we sure Dumbledore didn't make this group himself?"

"I'm certain it's not him," Locket-Riddle said. "It was I who influenced Heidi to accept Neville in the group. I wanted the whole lot of them within my grasp, so that I could kill whoever proved to be a thorn in my side. But enough about the girl, tell me about this servant that you wanted to visit you."

"It was Peter Pettigrew," Diary-Riddle said. "I sent him outside the castle grounds since he could not remain here undetected, and everyone was looking for him. And I now planned to begin my own search for our older brother. But I see now that won't be necessary."

"No, it won't," Locket-Riddle assured. "Although, Pettigrew's animagus ability might prove to be very useful indeed. I shall be taking him with me when I leave. And I'll find a way to contact you as soon as I'm done."

"Very well," Diary-Riddle nodded.

And that was the end of their discussion. They both returned back to their common room, underneath the invisibility cloak, just popping out a head to whisper the password to a sleepy fat lady, who let them in half dazed. And then up the stairs they were and back to bed.

-OOOOO—

"What if I train Ginny to catch the Snitch?" Heidi suggested that Tuesday as they were coming out of Lupin's Anti-Dementor class.

"Or, maybe we can manage to outscore Slytherin?" Hermione asked eagerly.

"We only have 1 Firebolt Hermione, and they have 7 Nimbusses 2001," Heidi reminded.

"Well then –"

"How bout you guys shut up for 1 minute," Diana said peeved. "We couldn't concentrate on our lesson because of you!"

"That's quite alright," Lupin said. "I remember when I was in school and the Gryffindor vs Slytherin Quidditch match was all the rave every year. No one could concentrate on learning, let alone extracurricular activities."

"Thank you Professor," Heidi said imperiously and linked arms with Hermione, asthey walked down the halls, the both of them muttering to each other and throwing ideas that they easily discarded or dismissed a moment later.

"It's not like I don't get them," Diana said, sounding peeved. "We're just as eager to see Gryffindor win as anyone else. But I also wanted to focus a little more on my anti-Dementor lessons."

Neville whistled.

"I never thought I'd see the day when you're more eager to learn something than your sister."

"What is that suppose to mean?" Diana asked peeved and punched Neville's arm.

"Well, I shall be leaving you kids now," Lupin said.

"Oh, Professor Lupin," Diana called.

"Yes, Miss Potter?"

"You haven't by any chance managed to find Pettigrew have you?" She asked innocently, and Neville barely suppressed a groan. Surprisingly, even Luna seemed to be irritated with the red-haired and Lupin was struggling to keep an impassive expression on his face.

"No," Lupin said. "But I will contact you as soon as I find him." He assured and was off.

"He's really going to get suspicious, you know," Neville said and Luna nodded.

"Who cares?!" Diana said recklessly. "I want to tell him! I really do!"

"But you can't!" Neville insisted.

"It will be very hard for Professor Lupin to believe us without proof," Luna remarked, and Diana pouted.

"Fine!" Diana snapped. "Let's go and see if the Slytherins are using the Quidditch Field today!"

There was nothing on the board, and the Ravenclaws were using the field today, just like it said on the board. But for some peculiar reason, the Slytherins were never on the field when they were supposed to be. March turned to April and the Ravenclaw vs Hufflepuff match came and went with the Hufflepuffs' victory (130 to 170). And the points stood as following: 1st place Ravenclaw with 460 points, 2nd place Hufflepuff with 450 points, 3rd place Slytherin with 410 points and 4th place Gryffindor with 300 points.

Heidi and the Quidditch team got increasingly more terrified, and Wood began working them to the bone every night. Diana, Neville and Luna became more annoyed with the Slytherin team, for it seemed like every other weak, Snape became more paranoid and he'd constantly move about their schedule, and force the Gryffindor team to do so as well, so much so that it was weighing down on Wood's nerves.

"I can't train like this!" Wood complained one day to McGonagall. "I wake my players up every morning at six because I don't know when the Quidditch pitch will be free and when we do get the pitch, it's such a fragmented flight that we barely get to train a few moves before we're kicked out by Snape due to his paranoia! You have to do something professor!"

And McGonagall and Snape were soon heard to be arguing every other week, while Professor Lupin was getting increasingly more annoyed with Diana's constant enquires about Pettigrew, so much so that he ditched the kids one Tuesday afternoon.

"What did you do to him this time?" Neville asked peeved, but Heidi didn't bother to wait for an answer as she ran down the hall.

"I don't have time for this!" the brunet snapped at the lot. "Wood's booked the Pitch for training this afternoon!"

"It's not my fault he didn't show up!" Diana snapped at the others as well.

It was a relief when the big day finally arrived.

Both the Slytherin and Gryffindor benches were looking as gaunt as Sirius had after he'd left Azkaban, (Sirius had even joked about it yesterday, trying to lighten up the mood, and failed miserably). None were speaking amongst each other, and the Quidditch teams of both houses didn't even dare to touch their food. There was tension at the Teacher's Table as well. McGonagall and Snape were standing on opposite side of Dumbledore, and either the old man didn't feel the nasty glares that the two teachers constantly threw at each other, or he didn't care enough to let it bother it (Heidi personally thought he was used to it by now). The three reps where very much aware of the tension in the grate hall, and neither of the three was touching their respective plates of food. The Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were anxious too, to see how this bloody war would end.

Finally breakfast was over, and every inhabitant of the castle made their way onto the Quidditch pitch.

"Heidi!" Cedric Diggory called out to her when she was about to enter the locker rooms.

Wood made an annoyed face and signaled at Heidi "1 minute!" and entered before her.

Heidi nodded and turned back to stare at Diggory. She was feeling strangely numb today, no real joy or annoyance present within her.

"What do you want?" she asked impassive.

"Listen. I know we haven't had the best year, but I came to wish you good luck!" He said, and hugged her.

Heidi let herself linger in his embrace for a moment, before pushing him away.

"Thanks," she said, while faking out a smile and turned away from him, unsure how she felt about him, about any of this really.

In the locker room, Wood gave them the usual peep-talk. "We're the best", "We have the best team", "This is our last chance".

"This is my last chance," he said at the end in a low whisper, drawing everyone's attention.

He looked sad to say the least, and a little bit teary-eyed.

"I won't be here next year," he said. "I'll graduate. So this is my last chance," he repeated, voice growing thick with emotion. "And I just wanted to tell you guys, that no matter what the result will be as we step out there, you're the best damn team a guy could wish for, and I was glad to be your Captain!"

Everyone's eyes filled up with tear, and Alicia sprang forward and enveloped Wood in a bone-crushing hug and everyone else crowded around Wood in a group hug.

"You're the best Captain anyone could wish for!" Angelina said and everyone else nodded.

"I hope you make it," Heidi told him as she grabbed his hand. "I hope the reps choose you. They'd be fools not to choose you!"

Wood smiled gratefully at her and squeezed her hand in return as he averted his eyes and tried to stay calm and composed.

"Alright you guys, that's enough!" Wood said, in a cracking voice and everyone distanced themselves from him. "We need to get out there and show everyone what we've got!"

"Yeah!" the Gryffindor Quidditch team chorused, and, with Wood at the front, they made their way out into the stadium, accompanied by roaring cheers from the stands.

Heidi was suddenly engulfed with the feeling of aw that she'd felt when she'd been a first year and had for the first time in her life felt what it was like to have the undivided attention and support of so many individuals, and she realized that her heart was beating fast in her chest, blood pumping through her veins and excitement coursing through her. She'd missed this. And she couldn't wait to get back on that silly cleaning utensil and take to the skies again, with the clouds above her, and the cheers of her fellow housemates behind her.

The Slytherin team made their way on the field, and it seemed like they all paused in their walk as soon as they caught sight of her. Yes, she'd missed this as well. The look of terror on your opponent's face when they realized they were in for one hell of an ass whopping. She smiled pleasantly at them and gave them a little wave.

Flint looked mutinous, and Draco looked horrified as Flint rapidly whispered something in his ear, and then the troll of a boy stepped towards Madam Hooch and shook hands with Wood (more like tried to crush the bones from his fingers) and then they were ordered to get into formation.

"And they're off!" Lee Jordan announced as the Quidditch players soared through the skies. "Angelina Jonson quickly catches the Quaffed, but unfortunately gets intercepted by Flint who is just way too fast to catch up on that Nimbus, and it seems like the first point of the game goes to Slytherin."

_Great_! Heidi cursed in her own mind, thinking this couldn't get any worse. She'd kicked off fast, and nearly lost her footing as a wave of dizziness struck her, and in that one second she'd not paid attention, the Snitch had disappeared from her sight. She'd gone high up into the sky, as high as Draco Malfoy, who was apparently ignoring her entirely in favor of searching for the Snitch. So, it seemed like Flint was hoping for a quick game? Well, she couldn't blame him, 150 points and they'd win everything, no need for extra effort. Problem was, the Gryffindors were hoping for a quick game too, and she wasn't going to let Malfoy take her spoils.

Down in the stands, Diana, Neville, Hermione, Luna and Ginny were looking ash faced at the game. It wasn't going at all like they'd hoped for. Slytherin was in the lead with 40 points to 10. The Slytherin team was just too fast and too ruthless for Gryffindor to take. Madam Pomfrey, who'd finally come out of the Hospital Wing to watch the game was squeezing Hagrid's hand a little too hard, while Fluffy was barking and whining in tandem with the Gryffindor crowd, and Filch was constantly asking Hermione what was happening, since he'd never seen a Quidditch match before today.

"We're loosing!" Hermione told him.

"Why? The red team attacked more," Filch said.

"Yes, but the Greed team made more goals," Hermione told him.

"See those hoops," Diana asked as she pointed to the three hoops on each side of the field. "The players need to get that big red ball through the hoops in order to score."

"Oh!" Filch remarked.

Sirius barked once, and was soon accompanied by the voice of Lee Jordan who boomed: "GRYFFINDOR SCOORED!" and the cheers of the crowds came with him.

"That a boy!" Filch cheered.

"She's a girl," Hermione corrected, but no one heard her in the ensuing cheers.

One of the Weasley twins sent a Bludger flying towards the players, and it connected with the right arm of one of the Slytherin Chasers, making madam Pomfrey gasp horrified and quickly excuse herself with "I have to tend to that poor boy!" while the rest of the stand cheered elated.

Their joy was short lived, for as soon as the game resumed, Crabb shot Angelina out of the skies and Flint managed to sneak in a point past Wood. Ginny rand down to the locker rooms, since she was the second reserved Chaser and needed to be there in case someone else got injured.

"And there goes Flint and Anthony, attacking the Gryffindor hoops," Lee said sounding none too happy about that. "And how easy they broke through the three Chasers! It looks like Gryffindor is struggling without Angelina! Here's to hoping Wood can stop them, and… he scores. Point for Flint," Jordan said, almost like in a trance that he soon snapped out of. "The Slytherins are 40 points ahead!" Lee said incredulously. "Let's hope the Seeker doesn't catch the snitch just yet or the Gryffindors will lose the House Cup. Oh bugger!" He exclaimed as Heidi came rushing out of the skied with Draco Malfoy in toe chasing after the Snitch.

"Heidi, no!" Hermione and the rest of the Gryffindors screamed as soon as they saw her.

"Don't catch the Snitch now! We'll lose the cup!" Diana screamed at her.

"Please don't let her catch it!" Neville was chanting like a prayer, but it seemed that no one was listening to him as Heidi made a swift right turn and reached out for the Snitch.

"Heidi, no!" The entire bench seemed to scream just as one of the Slytherin Beater let loose a Bludger at her, and for a moment, it looked like she'd caught the Snitch, until, she suddenly veered right, avoiding the Bludger, which went on to intercept Marcus Flint who'd gotten past Wood and was about to score.

Draco came to an abrupt halt and watched horrified as Flint fell down his broom and onto the dirt. The Beater observed his handiwork with clear frustration and fear on his face, thinking of the punishment he'd get later, while Heidi veered around to glare at the stands, as if to say: _do I really look that stupid_? And the crowd cheered for her.

As soon as Flint had been replaced, the Beaters both came furiously towards Heidi, swinging a Bludger between them, and Heidi ducked once than steered upwards, leaving the Slytherin Beaters to Fred and George who came swinging at them with the other Bludger.

"That sister of mine," Diana tusked disapprovingly. "I could hug her!" she said smiling brightly, and Hermione and Neville smiled with her.

"And it looks like the Snitch is out of sight and the game resumes once more!" Lee Jordan said whipping sweat off his face. "That was a close one folks," he sight, and McGonagall made no move to reprimand him.

But it didn't get much better for the Gryffindors. For every point they scored, the Slytherins matched it with another, and the distance between them wasn't getting any bigger, but it wasn't getting any smaller either. Heidi did her best to distract Malfoy, sometime chasing in the different direction when she saw that the Snitch was in sight and that the game wasn't going well for Gryffindor, but she was steadily reaching her limits. Her eyesight was getting foggy, and she felt herself getting tired, not being used to sitting on the broom for so long, partly due to the fractured practice, partly because she still hadn't made a full recovery. She was beginning to wonder if she could mislead Malfoy a second time around when the Snitch came, when, like a miracle ordained from above, Ginny Weasley got hold of the Quaffle and bolted for the Slytherin goal post, drove past all their defenses and scored a magnificent goal, leaving the Gryffindor only 30 points behind the Slytherins.

The crowd erupted into uncontrollable cheers.

_She's good_! Heidi thought impressed. _She's a good flyer, fast and agile. A splendid Chaser… and she'll not score another point during this game._ She was cretin of it as she saw the Slytherin Beater head for her. They were out of good Chasers, with only Ginny and Katy left on the field and some new guy who could barely hold his footing. As soon as Ginny was out, the point difference would only continue to grow, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. She had to act now! She had to get the Snitch while they were still ahead!

And there it was!

Heidi dove for it, rushing towards the Slytherin goal post straight past the Beater who was after Ginny who quickly dove out of her way, and avoiding a Bludger the other Beater sent her way. Draco was on her heals, but the distance between them was growing as the Snitch made a dangerous turn that forced Draco to halt his movements, but Heidi stubbornly kept pushing forward. Higher, than low and then straight ahead, as she reached for it and grabbed it and crashed head first straight into the teachers' stand, straight into Dumbledore.

"Potter's caught the Snitch!" Lee Jordan cried before gasping horrified at the crash.

"Heidi!" Diana, Hermione and Neville cried horrified as they ran towards the teachers' stand.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Hagrid bellowed and chased after them with Filch and Sirius in toe.

Heidi slowly opened her eyes feeling a wave of nausea hit her.

"Are you alright, Miss Potter?" Dumbledore's voice sounded so close to her, and yet so feeble.

Heidi pulled back to get a closer look at her surroundings. She was standing on Dumbledore's lap, in the teachers' stand. A small circle of debris had formed around them where the chairs had been, but now were just a pile of cinders. The rest of the staff seemed unharmed - apparently having been propelled away from the crash sight - but Dumbledore had blood coming down the trail of his mouth, and Heidi hastily got off of him alarmed.

"Are you alright, sir?" Heidi said reaching out to him with the hand that still had the Snitch in its grasp.

"Not to worry my dear. I'm quite fine," Dumbledore reassured, but grimaced as he grabbed his side. Snape and McGonagall were quick to come to his aid, Snape casting several charms on the old man and McGonagall transfiguring a few of the chairs into a stretcher, on which Hagrid hastily helped set Dumbledore and the teachers were quick to whisk him away.

Heidi herself was enveloped into a bone-crushing hug by her sister as soon as she distanced herself from Dumbledore.

-OOOOO-

"Are you alright?" Diana asked for the thousandth time.

"I'm fine," Heidi assured. She was still a bit in shock about the fact that she'd managed to crash into Dumbledore and wound the old man.

At the current moment Heidi and the rest of the Quintet were standing on a bench inside the Gryffindor locker room, and they hadn't left the place in 5 hours. The Quidditch team had come in with them, but after changing from their Quidditch Robes, they'd left to see what their fallen comrades were doing and bring them the news: They'd won the match, 190 to 90. At the very last second, before Heidi had caught the Snitch and when everyone was paying attention to the Seeker, Anthony had snuck a goal past Wood, and Wood being the honest guy he was, had admitted to the goal, which meant that Gryffindor had lost the Cup by just 10 points. The Slytherin were in the lead with 500 and the Gryffindors would be on second place with 490.

McGonagall was furious. And so was Heidi. And so were the rest of the quintet.

Hermione reached out to her and gently shock her shoulder.

"You should change," she advised, and Heidi slowly nodded her head.

The rest of the kids pilled out of the room to let her change, and Heidi was quick to throw her Quidditch robes down to the floor and change into her school uniform. Then she began picking her discarded robes, fold them into a neat pack and put them into her locker. She was just about to hang her cloak when she noticed a round, coppery mark on the red velvet that looked and smelled suspiciously like blood.

"Dumbledore's blood…" she whispered mystified, eyes glowing red, as a sinister smile made its way across her face.

She sank her teeth into the fabric, and tore out the part that was covered in blood and stuffed it into her pocket. Then she exited the room, only to come face-to-face with Professor McGonagall.

Locket-Riddle panicked.

"Professor," she said surprised. "Is there something wrong?"

"May I have a word?" McGonagall asked, and stepped into the locker room.

"Of course," Heidi said, while grimacing, and then turned to follow her professor back in.

"What is it that you want to talk about?" Heidi asked as soon as she'd closed the door.

"About the match," McGonagall said, and Heidi panicked.

"I'm sorry I crashed into the teachers' stand! I didn't mean to! It was an –"

"Mind listening to what I have to say first before you begin apologizing?" asked McGonagall, and Heidi blushed furious for having been scolded and nodded her head.

"Professor Dumbledore is alright, just to get that off your mind," McGonagall said. "Madam Pomfrey assures me he'll make a full recovery within a week's time. There reason I'm here for is to talk to you about the Representatives of the three National teams," the Transfiguration teacher clarified.

"Oh!" Heidi said surprised, relaxing visibly. "Um, what did they say?"

"They were very impressed," McGonagall said and Heidi beamed. "Very impressed indeed. In face, they were all so impressed that they all offered you positions on their respective teams."

Heidi whistled in wonder.

"Yes, rather flattering isn't it?" McGonagall asked mockingly.

"Considering the fact that I've only played just one game, I count myself to be extremely lucky," Heidi told her.

"You've always been lucky," McGonagall remarked, looking fondly at her. "And rather, deviant if I may say so myself." And then she turned serious. "What will you do?"

"I'm not going to pick the all Woman's team, I don't think it suits me," Heidi said, after a bit of consideration. "I was thinking about joining the Falcons."

McGonagall nodded.

"As I knew you would. Though, I'd rather advise against it."

"Why so?" Heidi asked curiously. "I thought you supported the Falcons?"

McGonagall shuck her head.

"Don't be silly! I only supported them because one of my pupils had become their Captain. I don't have favorites when it comes to the Nationals. I'm too busy to go to games!" McGonagall remarked.

"Alright," Heidi nodded. "So, you might not root for them, but what made you advise me to pick another team."

"Convenience," McGonagall said. "All of the three representative teams are highly regarded in the Nationals, but the Falcons and Harpy's, Seekers are barely in their early twenties. They will last for a long time, and most Quidditch Player's careers end in their late thirties. By the time they retire, you would have lost your spark without leaving an impression on the world. But the Magpies' Seeker, is a man in his late thirties. A veteran who is sure to retire before his bones get more broken up than they already were not long from now. Maybe he might not last for the remaining four year when you are in School and you'll have to replace him. And, I assume, that if you do want to make such an engagement as to become part of a National team, you don't want to waste your time sitting on the bench for your entire career?"

"Most certainly not," Heidi shuck her head smiling.

McGonagall nodded.

"Than, what should I tell the reps?" she asked.

"Tell the Magpies I'd be glad to join them," Heidi said, smiling brightly.

"I shall do just that," McGonagall said, nodding her head, and leaving the room.

-OOOOO—

That night the quintet snuck up to Hagrid and Sirius for a little celebration. Madam Pomfrey, Filch and Misses Norris were also invited.

"And you're certain Professor Dumbledore is alright?" Heidi asked for what felt like the 100th time.

"Have you suddenly lost faith in my Medical expertise that you'd dare to question me so blatantly?" Madam Pomfrey said peeved and Heidi held her tongue.

Misses Norris was hissing in the corner at Fang, who was trying to hide behind Hagrid, while Filch was trying to restrain his cat. Sirius decided to be a smarty pants and turn into a dog to try and scare the cat, but Misses Norris clawed at his face once, and Sirius cowered away from her and towards Luna, who was the only non judgmental of the bunch because of his early bravado. Diana picked Misses Norris up and set her on her lap, and the cat stayed still for the rest of the evening.

Late around 12, Filch opened the front gates, and Madam Pomfrey rushed up the stairs to the hospital wing with Luna, promising to get the girl safe to her dormitory, while Filch locked up and began his patrol from the dungeon to give the quartet enough time to make their way up to the Gryffindor common room and into bed.

The next day was a Tuesday, and a very sad time for the Gryffindor house, since they had still lost the House cup to Slytherin who were jeering and beaming because the reps were surely going to select them to be part of their team. Heidi wasn't so certain, given that, she'd received her invitation yesterday, right after the match, and apparently the Slytherins haven't gotten any… but neither did anyone else. Did the reps really choose just her? She found herself wondering as she was making her way towards the History of Magic Class.

Lupin was waiting for them inside, seated at the teacher's desk, a pensive look on his face.

"Good morning Professor," the Quintet greeted cheerfully.

Lupin just nodded at them, and the kids sat down in the front row, Diana, Neville and Luna on the first bench from the right, and Hermione and Heidi at the first bench from the middle.

"Is there something wrong, Professor Lupin?" Hermione asked taking note of his pensive expression.

"How long have you known?" Lupin asked simply, not bothering to turn his head towards them.

The kids looked confused at each other.

"Known what, sir?" Hermione asked uncertain, but Heidi groaned a little in realization.

"You saw Sirius at the match yesterday?" she asked and the other kids were quick to panic.

"Yes," was Lupin's short reply and he turned to face them, moving his tired eyes over all their little faces. "I saw him. And I immediately recognized him. And I rushed to Dumbledore's side, thinking you kids might be in danger, but he…." And Lupin started to shake his head. "He said that he knew, about Sirius, about Pettigrew being alive, and living as Ron's rat, about you kids knowing, and I found myself wondering whether I was the only one who didn't know a damn thing?" then shock his head in frustration and brushed a hand through his hair.

"Professor Dumbledore know?" Hermione asked surprised.

"We wanted to tell you," Diana said, not caring much for Dumbledore right now.

Lupin looked up at her.

"We really did," Diana assured. "As soon as we found out. Sirius wanted to tell you, but we thought you wouldn't believe us without proof," she said lowering her head sadly.

"You had proof," Lupin told her and he pulled out the newspaper with the photo of Ron's family. "That was proof enough, right here!" He stood up from the teachers' desk and walked towards them, dumping the paper on the desk and pointing at Pettigrew. "Just as Sirius recognized him from one look so would I!" Lupin told them. "Prongs, Padfoot and Wormtail," Lupin recited. "All my friends from school who found out I was a werewolf and instead of shunning me like they should have they accepted me and turned themselves into animagy to keep me company during my transformation. I have their shapes engraved into my memory," he assured the kids. "How could I not? They never abandoned me."

"We're sorry, Professor," Neville said sincerely looking very ashamed.

"Would you like to meet him?" Diana asked. "Sirius, I mean. He'd really like to talk to you!"

"Yes," Lupin nodded his face lighting up. "Yes! Tonight, at the Shrieking Shack. He'll know it. It's our old hang-out place."

-OOOOO—

Heidi and Hermione had been somewhat cautious to let Sirius and Lupin meet alone, but Sirius had been ecstatic to hear the news and agreed to the meeting without a second's thought.

"He's my best friend," Sirius declared passionately to Hermione and Heidi. "And I'd very much like to rekindle our friendship, if he's up for it."

There hadn't been any argument after than, and the kids had left Hagrid's hut with the hope that tomorrow, Sirius and Lupin would have solved their differences, and Diana was confident they'd have a new member on their team that would believe Sirius is innocent and want to help them prove so.

The quartet were making their way back to their own dormitory after dinner that night, after they had dropped off Luna, and were about to make their way up the stairs when they saw a crystal ball spinning it's way towards them.

"What's that doing here?" Neville asked looking at it peculiarly.

Hermione looked startled as she saw Diana head toward the crystal ball and said: "Maybe we shouldn't touch it!" But the red-haired grabbed it and pulled it up to her cheats and turned towards them.

"Why? It's just a big chunk of glass Hermione! Stop being so paranoid!" She scolded and turned to look up the stairs. "I think I see Professor Trelawney up there!" the red-haired exclaimed.

"What's she doing?" Neville asked as he, Heidi and a fearful Hermione made their way towards the stairs.

"I don't know," Diana said looking at the turned back of her Divination's teacher.

"Should we go and return that?" Neville asked.

"I guess we should," Heidi said.

But when no one volunteered, the group turned to Heidi for guidance.

"Why are you looking at me? I don't even know the woman! One of you guys take it!"

"I quit her class, so she won't be very glad to see me," Hermione was quick to point out.

"I'm a guy," Neville said, having nothing much else to say.

"Why does that matter," Diana asked looking at him weirdly.

"She likes girls better," Neville reasoned, and the three girls turned to give him a weird look.

"Forget it," Diana said glaring at the lot of them. "I'll take it back to her!" and she marched up the stairs before anyone could stop her.

Hermione had a dreading feeling in her gut as she watched her go, but Heidi grabbed onto her and pulled her towards the Gryffindor common room.

"Come one, Herms! Diana's a big girl. She can take care of herself," the brunet assured and Neville nodded.

Diana sprinted the steps two at a time and was quick to arrive at the last floor where she found Trelawney glaring out into space, hunched over the balcony that lead to the last floor.

"Professor, you dropped this," Diana said, trying to get her attention, but it seemed like Trelawney didn't hear her, as she neither turned her head nor gave her a response.

Diana squinted her eyes at Trelawney. She looked to be awake. Could she really not have heard her? The red-haired slowly made her way towards the Divination Teacher, crystal ball in hand, wondering what the old woman was doing here, after all, she was notorious for not wanting to leave her tower.

"Professor?" Diana asked as she reached out to her but, suddenly, Trelawney grabbed her, glassy white eyes turning to look in her direction and said:

"It will happen tonight."


	17. Chapter 17

**AN**: Sorry for the late update, we had the Christmas party at work last night and I got in late and too tired to think properly. Well, hope you guys enjoy the chapter and please review.

**Chapter 17: The Bite**

"It will happen tonight." Trelawney said as her hand clutched onto Diana's, a cascade of images flashing before her eyes, and Trelawney's voice filled her ear.

"The Dark Lord lies in waiting, thinking himself friendless and abandoned by the world," and Diana saw a forest, as black as night most wildlife extinct except for a lonely serpent, crawling miserably cross the dirt. "But his friends are plotting, and they shall be soon by his side," and she saw a myriad of unfamiliar faces, blending in together, to form a crowd around a tall figure standing in their midst. "Tonight, before midnight, the servants and the masters, shall find their way back to the Dark Lord and he shall rise again, more powerful than ever before!" She saw the Womping Willow, and the secret entrance that it hid underneath. She saw Sirius make his way towards there, with a shadow chasing after him. And then the scene changed to that of a forest, she saw Sirius as he twisted in pain, a Dementor standing tall above him, lowering itself towards him, and sucking the life right out of him.

"No!" Diana screamed and she heard the sound of something breaking. She struggled with the grip on her hand, pulling and twisting to break free, till she felt the hand give way, and the red-haired found herself tumbling backwards, onto the cold hard floor, head still spiraling from the images she'd witnesses.

"Tonight… before midnight… they will… set out to rejoin him…"

Trelawney whispered, as Diana slowly gathered herself together and tried to stand up. Then there was silence, a deafening silence that made Diana's heart rate increase tenfold.

_Sirius, I saw Sirius die!_ She thought to herself horrified. _It's going to happen tonight!_

She jumped to her feat half-mad and bolted for the stairs, not caring about the broken crystal ball beside her, or Trelawney's dead like shape.

On the floor below she met with the rest of the Quartet.

"What happened?" Heidi demanded.

"We heard you screaming!" Neville said panicking.

"Did she do something to you?" Hermione enquired.

In her current state Diana couldn't help but just to mutter aimlessly to try and explain herself. "... will happen… tonight … Sirius… and him! I have to stop him! We have to!"

"Calm down!" Heidi grabbed hold of her shoulders and tried to steady hear, but Diana shrugged her grip off. "You need to tell us what happened!" she said, a little bit more forcefully.

Diana stopped struggling and fixed her gaze on her sister before saying: "Sirius is going to die," is a whisper and then bolting down the stairs.

"Wait! Diana!" Heidi shouted and rushed after her followed by Neville and Hermione.

Heidi, Neville and Hermione chased after Diana down the stairs, out the Double Doors, and through the grounds, till they reached the Womping Willow where the tree began making threatening gestures and swinging its branches at them. But it would seem Diana took no notice of that as she ran like possessed straight towards the threatening tree, and almost got hit by one of its branches if it wouldn't have been for Neville tackling her out of the way.

Neville forcibly pulled her away from the reach of the tree and Heidi was quick to stun her.

"Heidi!" Hermione reproached horrified.

"I had to do something!" The brunet snapped enraged and out of breath, as she advanced on her sister and magically tied her up. "Enervate!" she chanted.

As soon as Diana opened her eyes, she began struggling against her binds, but Heidi slapped her hard across the cheek and said:

"You will explain yourself this instant, or so help me I will beat you to a pulp and carry you back inside!"

Hermione and Neville dragged Heidi off Diana, fearing the brunet would hurt the red-haired.

"But, we don't have time," Diana said, tears gathering around her eyes. "They're gonna kill Sirius!"

"Who?" Hermione asked, coming to sit in front of her. "Tell us who, and we'll come with you."

"The Dementors," Diana said and started sobbing.

"The Dementors don't know where Sirius is," Heidi said thinking she'd placate her sister.

"But I saw it!" Diana insistently shuck her head. "It will happen tonight! They're going to kill Sirius and Voldemort will be revived! And we have to stop them! We have to!"

A sudden cold chill filled Locket-Riddle as he pushed Heidi's conscience to the side and took over.

"Voldemort will be revived tonight?" Locket-Riddle asked cautiously as Hermione and Neville shuddered at the use of the name.

"No," Diana shock her head. "Sirius, he'll be killed tonight! We have to stop them!"

"Do you think Lupin is a servant of Voldemort's, and he'd want Sirius killed?" Heidi asked.

"I don't know," Diana said. "But I have to save him!"

"That's preposterous!" Hermione said.

"Diana, you're not making any sense," Neville insisted. "Sirius is _safe_! He's with Lupin who's a _friend_!" He directed that part at Heidi. "Nothing could happen to him –"

"Neville!" Hermione grabbed hold of his sleeve to stop him from speaking. "It's a full moon tonight!"

"Well… fuck!" Neville said.

"Untie me!" Diana demanded. "I have to save Sirius!"

"We'll all save Sirius," Locket-Riddle assured her untying Diana. "Let's go!" she held out her hand and Diana grabbed it.

"How do we get past the Womping Willow?" Neville asked.

"We burn it." was Diana's simple answer, and she set the branch that was heading towards them on fire.

"Diana, no!" Hermione was too late in stopping her and watched in horror as the Willow waved around its burning branch trying to put out the fire.

Diana used the tree's distraction to make her way towards the opening where she'd seen Sirius go through with Neville behind her. Hermione took out her wand and was about to cast an extinguishing spell on the tree, when Heidi grabbed her by the hand and told her to "Leave it!"

The brunet pushed Hermione towards the tunnel first, a cleaver move on her part as she heard Hermione give a sudden shout and slide down into the hole. She shrugged dismissively and slid down after her, legs first.

Diana and Neville had lit up their wands and had already started their journey down the tunnel. Hermione and Heidi were quick to rise to their feet only to crouch down again and set up after the other two.

"Where is this supposed to take us?" Hermione asked.

"To the Shrieking Shack, I suppose," said Heidi, thinking about Lupin's place of rendezvous.

The tunnel went on for miles and Locket-Riddle was feeling rather annoyed because he was forced to run and crouch at the same time to keep up with the annoying red-haired. He was wondering what madness could have possessed the girl to start sprouting such nonsense? And why was the Diary allowing her to speak of such things to begin with? She'd clearly seen the book on the redhead when she'd tied her down, so why wasn't his brother stopping the girl?

The tunnel suddenly twisted upwards and then it turned again, and the quartet found themselves coming out into a dilapidated looking old room, which was filled to the brim with dust and spider webs. There was a door left ajar on one end, and a chair lay half torn to shreds on the other. The windows were all bared up with plates of wood, and the paint had nearly fallen off the walls.

"This looks like the Shrieking Shack," Neville said, his voice echoing in the silent room, startling the kids half to death. "Sorry," he apologized.

There was a sudden movement from up stairs, and voices could be heard through the thin walls, but none of the kids could make out what they're saying.

"Let's go," Heidi said as she made her way towards the door, and up the wooden stairway.

The voices were becoming clearer, and the kids could distinguish two sets of voice, which sounded like Lupin and Sirius, pleading with a third one.

"He's already here!" Diana whispered breathlessly.

"Who is?" Neville asked.

"The servant of Lord Voldemort!" Diana spat out and ran for the door before anyone could stop her. The red-haired blew the door off its hinges and walked into the room, a stunning spell at the tip of her tongue, when she caught sight of who exactly the third inhabitant of the room was.

The other kids barged in behind her, wands out and ready for a fight.

"Professor Snape?" Hermione gasped looking owlishly at the Potions Master.

"Stun him!" Sirius snapped, and that was all the prompting Diana needed to unleash a powerful stunner that knocked Snape off his feet and into the opposite wall.

There was a stunned silence that carried on for a few seconds as everyone regarded the fallen figure of Snape from the floor before Lupin moved towards him, disarming him and taking his own wand out of Snapes' pocket.

"Thank you for that," Lupin said as he turned towards the kids. "That was very fortunate timing." And he suddenly became aware of the fact that Diana was still pointing her wand at him. "I think you can lower that now, Diana."

"I don't think I'm going to," Diana said regarding him crossly.

Sirius turned to look at her confused.

"Is there something wrong?" He asked the kids.

"It's a full moon tonight," Diana said spitefully, looking at Lupin crossly. "Why did you choose tonight of all night to have your little reunion with Sirius? Were you hoping to kill him when you turned?"

"Of course not," Lupin assured. "Diana, I just came to meet up with an old friend."

"Can someone please explain what is going on here?" Sirius asked confused by the whole ordeal. "Diana," Sirius called to the red-haired. "Look at me and tell me what's going on?"

Diana's eyes slowly trailed on Sirius, and as soon as they did, she burst into tears and flung herself at the elder man.

"I saw you die," she said weeping. "I saw the Dementors suck the life out of you!"

"Shh," Sirius tried to shot her, petting her head gently. "It's alright little prongslet! I'm right here! I'm alive! It was all a bad dream! Okay?" he lifted her head up to whip the tears off her face and then pulled her back into a bear hug and kissed her forehead. "It's alright," he kept repeating gently to her as he rocked her slightly.

Lupin turned to the other kids for explanations, but the three of them shrugged uncertainly.

"How did Professor Snape get here?" Hermione asked.

"He was following me," Lupin said. "It is indeed a full moon tonight," Remus remarked. "And I forgot to take my Wolf's Ban Potion that would keep me in check during the transformation, so Severus kindly came up to my office to deliver it. But he decided to follow me when he saw me 'sneaking out of the castle', and thought I was in cahoots with Sirius when he stumbled upon the two of us here."

"Why didn't you take your Wolf's Ban Potion?" Diana demanded as she wriggled out of Sirius' embrace.

"Quite frankly, I forgot…" Lupin said sounding apologetic.

"Forgot?" Diana questioned aggravated.

"You needn't have worried about that," Sirius assured her and shushed her when she was about to complain. "I don't think I've told you this, but James, Peter and I became Animagy so that we could keep Remus company during his transformations. He's no danger to animals when he transforms."

"But he is to humans!" Heidi remarked sharply. "And he hasn't taken his Wolf's Ban!"

"Right," Remus nodded looking anxious. "We better get you kids back to the castle."

"And Professor Snape," Hermione reminded.

"My apologies," Lupin said and cast: "Mobilicorpus!" and Snape was suddenly dangling a few feet into the air, head lolling out to the side. "Though I find it rather odd that Dumbledore hasn't told him about you," he said nodding to Sirius's direction. "If he already knew you were innocent."

"Bugger if I know or care," Sirius remarked. "But you can ask him once we get back to the castle."

Sirius led the way, with Snape and Lupin following after. Hermione and Neville had gone ahead with the crowd, and Diana was just about to join in when she was grabbed by her sister.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked poisonously.

"I'm sorry," Diana said looking weirdly at her sister. "I got a little bit out of control and -" suddenly her eyes glowed red and a pleading voice said: "I can't control her! Help!" and then her eyes were back to normal. "- accused people of being traitors. But I'm fine now," Diana assured looking calmly at her sister. "Now come on! They're leaving us behind!"

Heidi glared at Diana's back incredulously as she followed after the red-haired. How could this happen? How could Diana resist his brother? He frankly didn't know, but something was telling him that tonight was going to be big, and that he didn't have time to wait for William to contact him. He had to make his move now!

Locket-Riddle snuck close to Diana and pulled out Heidi's wand from his pocket and cast a nonverbal Accio on the Diary, which slowly slipped out of Diana's pocket, and towards his awaiting hands. He hid the Diary in his pocket and returned Heidi's wand to her sleeve. Now all he needed was a distraction.

And he got it, in the form of a fearful squeal near the exit of the tunnel.

"Peter!" Sirius snarled, looming down over the small rat.

Pettigrew took one look at him and swiftly made his way out of the tunnel, but Sirius gave chase and was captured by the Whomping Willow for his trouble, till Remus pushed a rock onto a small level that froze the tree in place.

"Wished we would have known about that earlier," Diana remarked bitterly as she rushed outside alongside Neville, Hermione and Lupin.

Sirius had jumped down from the tree and set out after the rat towards the forest, and a horrified Diana ran after him.

"Wait, Sirius!" she cried.

Remus and Neville were in hot pursuit of the two, while Hermione looked on in horror.

"Heidi, this can't be a coincidence!" Hermione said and spun around, only to see the limp discarded body of Snape. "Heidi?!" she called out. "Where are you?"

-OOOOO—

The red-moon caught up with them, just as Sirius ventured into the Forbidden Forest.

There's a broken scream heard from behind as Lupin falls to his knees and his body starts shifting. Diana and Neville are by his side in an instant.

"No!" Sirius screams at them. "Run away from there! He's not safe!"

Neville panics, hearing Sirius and pulls Diana away from Lupin.

"Run!" Sirius screams as he reaches them. "I'll hold him off!"

Sirius turned towards Remus and it looks like he's trying to reason with him, but to no avail, the transformation starts and both Diana and Neville are too horrified and mystified to look away from Lupin.

It looked like every bone from his body is broken all at once, winding and turning into the proper shape, his back gets hunched over, his mouth is elongated, his ears as well, claws start growing out of his fingers and fur starts covering his body and all the while Lupin is howling in pain, crying even.

And Sirius was there right beside him, pleading with him and holding him up to the very last moment, when Lupin suddenly became quiet.

"Professor?" Neville whispered breaking the silent trance, and Sirius only has time to give the both of them one horrified look, before Lupin sends him flying and charges them, teeth bared.

He's fast, and they're too close for them to avoid him. Neville flings himself in front of Diana preparing for the worse, when, suddenly, Sirius comes to their aid, in the form of his black dog. He jumped Lupin, biting him on the neck, and the both of them go tumbling down the small valley that was hidden behind the bushes where they'd fallen.

"Sirius!" Diana sprints after them.

"Wait! Diana!" Neville shouts and runs after her.

-OOOOO-

Heidi could hear Hermione screaming, but she didn't care, she ran toward the edge of the forest, where Pettigrew was waiting for her, looking anxious and trembling from head to toe.

"You did well, distracting them," Locket-Riddle remarked and pulled out the diary and shrank it. He also pulled out the blood filled cloth he'd gotten from Dumbledore and handed that to Pettigrew as well. Then he reached into Heidi's robes and took the locket from around her neck and placed it around Pettigrew's.

"My lord, where shall I go?" Pettigrew asked frightened.

"I'll guide you Wormtail," Locket-Riddle assured with a smile and let go of the Locket. Suddenly, Heidi's eyes rolled in the back of her head and she fell over, Pettigrew reaching out to grab her and lays her gently on the ground.

"Good night sleeping beauty," Pettigrew whispered, red eyes gleaming.

He swiftly rose to his feet and moved towards the Forbidden Forest, turning into a rat and blending in seamlessly with the night life.

-OOOOO-

"Heidi!" Hermione shouter, and when she got no reply, she resorted to the only thing she could do: She woke up Snape.

"Where?" Snape asked dazed.

"You have to help me!" Hermione pleaded. "Heidi's gone missing!"

At the mention of the Potter twin, Snape's eyes suddenly became alert, as he remembered the reason why he'd ended up sleeping near the Whomping Willow.

"Where are the rest of them?" Snape questioned as he looked for his wand.

"Professor Lupin took your wand!" Hermione told him and pulled out hers. "Here, use mine! But, please find her! There's a dangerous killer on the loose on these grounds!"

"I'm glad you've finally snapped to your senses Miss Granger!" Snape remarked sarcastically, obviously thinking that the dangerous killer she was referring to was Sirius, but Hermione didn't have the time or the patience to correct him.

"Please hurry!" she pleaded.

Snape quickly rose to his feet and apparently did a localizer spell, for the wand suddenly started pulling Snape towards a direction and Hermione was quick to follow him.

They found Heidi near the edge of the Forbidden Forest, laid to rest as if she was sleeping on the ground, seemingly unhurt.

"Heidi!" Hermione shrieked the moment she saw her and flung herself at the girl.

"We have to move her back to the castle Miss Granger," Snape remarked. "There's a full moon tonight," he reminded looking at the red-moon that emerged from the clouds.

He quickly bent down and picked the unconscious girl and sets her on Hermione's back.

"Take her to the castle!" Snape says. "I'll go and search for the others. Quickly!" He prompts her when Hermione didn't move, and the curly-haired was quick to spring into gear.

-OOOOO—

Diana and Neville reach the riverbank, where they find Sirius fallen from his injuries.

"Sirius!" Diana says and she's about to reach out to him, when she realizes that this scene is familiar. This forest is the very same one she'd seen in the vision Trelawney had given her.

Neville reaches her and begs: "We have to get out of her!" as he looks around. "Lupin might still be here!"

"Not without Sirius!" Diana says stubbornly and runs towards him.

Neville growls in frustration and runs after her, and nearly doubles over with fear when he sees Lupin spring from the trees and charging straight at the red-haired.

"DIANA!" he screams and pulled out his wand to fire the first spell on his mind: "FLIPPENDO!"

Diana was suddenly alert to the danger by Neville's strangled scream and turned just in time to see the wolf lunging at her, full speed, and she didn't even have time for fear, or to react as Neville's Flippendo struck home and propelled Lupin away from her.

Sirius got up shakily and charged Lupin, as the werewolf rose up and prepared for another attack. The two bit and clawed at each other as Neville reached Diana and grabbed her hand.

"We have to go!" He insisted.

"We have to stun that wolf!" Diana said stubbornly and pulled out her wand.

Neville knowing there was no arguing with Diana's bullheadedness, aimed his own wand at the werewolf and prayed that they would live to tell the tale.

Lupin kicked Sirius aside, and seeing their chance, the two started shooting stunners at the wolf like crazy. Unfortunately, Lupin dodged every single one, till he got close enough to lung at them, but Neville tackled Diana to the ground and saved the both of them.

Unfortunately Lupin was up and behind them, but Neville tried to twist his arm to take aim, only to have his shoulder grazed by Lupin, who clawed bitterly at him.

Upon seeing the sight of Neville howling in pain above her, Diana panicked, and aimed for Lupin with a powerful "STUPEFY!" which sent the wolf flying in a daze.

"Nevi –"

She didn't even get to finish calling out his name, as Sirius was upon them, biting deep into Neville's shoulder, the one that had been scratched.

"Sirius what are you doing?!" Diana shrieked horrified as Neville screamed in agony. Sirius didn't stop until he bit the flesh clear off from the bone.

Neville howled in pain and fell sideways clutching at his wounded shoulder, while Sirius spat out the bitten flesh and collapsed down by the river bank reverting back to his human form, teeth sullied with blood. Lupin was slumped a few feet beside him.

Diana looked on from one horrifying scene to another and something inside her broke. She began working on autopilot, casting a numbing spell on Neville's shoulder, disinfecting and forcefully coagulating the wound before applying a quick dressed, all the while muttering an: "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Neville. I'm sorry."

Her breath became misty, as the temperature dropped, and Diana lifted her face up to the sky to see a hoard of floating Dementors circling them.

At that point, her hands slumped uselessly beside her, and she suddenly erupted into fits of laughter, before doubling over and burying her head into her hands and crying.

_It's my fault!_ She realized. _It's all my fault! If I hadn't been here…_

The temperature lowered as she felt a cold hand on her head, lifting her face upwards, and suddenly, she was seeing Hermione falling all over again. And there was a new voice mixed within her own please for someone to save Hermione. Another voice. That of a woman's.

"Not my babies!" she pleaded. "Please, anything but my babies!" and a maniacal laughter sounding in the background. And there was Sirius, lying on the ground a few feet from her, Dementors crowding around him and sucking the very soul right out of him.

Reality interchanged with fantasy, and suddenly she wasn't aware who was screaming anymore. Was it Hermione, Sirius, her mother, or herself.

She had no idea, and it was all fading, slowly drifting away, into an ether of nothingness, that promised release from the pain. And she was all to glad to give into it.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18: Rapture**

Waking up was an unpleasant sensation, like emerging from water after nearly drowning. Her lungs felt sore, her body shock like she was freezing and her stomach was turning, begging to spill out all that she had for diner that night, and that's exactly what she did.

"Madam Pomfrey!" that was definitely Hermione's voice calling for help.

And soon, Madam Pomfrey came fussing at her side, banishing away the mess she'd made, casting a warming charm on her and throwing a foul tasting liquid into her hand which she was forced to gobble up instantly, and then the nurse gave her chocolate.

"It'll make you feel better," the nurse assured.

"You just need to calm down," Hermione said, red eyes bulging, like she'd done nothing more but cry in the last hour or so. And that sight made Diana cringe.

"Neville," the red-haired chocked out as soon as she could find her voice. "What happened to him?"

Madam Pomfrey stopped dead in her tracks, refusing to look the red-haired in the face. Hermione lowered her eyes, unable to meet her gaze either.

"He –"

"I'll take it from her my dear Poppy," Dumbledore said, emerging from within a drawn cover on one of the hospital beds. There were two of them. Two drawn covered, and Diana desperately wanted to know who was behind them, for as soon as Madam Pomfrey was dismissed, she made her way towards the two covered beds, and ducked behind the cover of the opposite bed from which Dumbledore had emerged.

Diana turned her head towards Hermione, hoping for some hint of what was going on from the girl, but Hermione refused to look at her.

"Miss Potter," Dumbledore said kindly, and Diana turned her head towards him.

"Professor, what happened to Neville," Diana said, feeling panic eat away at her gut because of everyone's reluctance to tell her what happened.

"He's stable," Dumbledore said. "Severus found you and young Neville amidst the Dementors and he was quick to tend to the boy's wounds and thankfully they weren't infected. Poppy had just finished re-growing the boy's muscles and skin before you awakened, and is now treating him for the aftermaths of the Dementor's attack. I'm afraid he's lost a lot of blood, and his body temperature has dropped very much, but Poppy and Severus assure me they can stabilize him, which is what they are doing right now."

Diana let out a chocked sob as she covered her face with her hands.

"But he's going to be alright, right?" she asked looking pleadingly at the headmaster.

"We should hope so," Dumbledore said. "Now, Diana. I need to ask you a very important question, and you need to respond honestly, for there is much at stake, and hiding the truth will not protect anyone."

Diana nodded, looking slightly worried as she tried to control her sobs and give Dumbledore her undivided attention.

"Why did Sirius Black bite young Neville's shoulder off?" Dumbledore asked and Diana suddenly couldn't keep her sobs in and she found herself crying again.

"Because he scratched him," Diana said chocking. "Professor Lupin, he scratched his shoulder," she said as she broke off into sobs.

"Excuse me?!" Madam Pomfrey said as she emerged from within the curtains. "Lupin scratched him? Are you sure?"

"Yes," Diana said nodding her head. "Is he going to become a werewolf?" she asked fearfully.

Madam Pomfrey visibly cringed at the question, and shock her head in the affirmative.

"It's the most likely outcom–"

"Oh my god!" Diana sobbed horrified. "It's my fault! He was protecting me! It's my fault!"

Hermione was suddenly there, wrapping her arms around Diana and rocking her gently trying to shush her.

"What about Sirius?" Diana asked suddenly remembering her vision. "Where is he?!"

Dumbledore's face suddenly turned grim, and the room grew so quiet it felt like a death sentence had been past to someone.

"Where is Sirius?" Diana asked again, a bit more forcefully.

Dumbledore seemed to open and close his mouth, most like thinking about how to deliver the news, but Diana didn't have the patience to wait for him to speak. She jumped out of bed and dashed for the other covered bed in the room, the one from which Dumbledore had emerged from, dreading to find Sirius' dead corps lying on the bed. What she found was so much worse.

It was Heidi, her sister, looking peach perfect, like a plastic doll laid out for an exposition. Not a single thread of her hair was out of place, and you could see no visible mark on her, but something about the way she lay there motionless, almost as if she wasn't even breathing made Diana's stomach turn even more.

"Diana, please come her–" Dumbledore tried to say, but Diana rudely interrupted.

"What happened to her?" she demanded. "Why is she like this?"

"We don't know," Madam Pomfrey said. "She doesn't seem to be suffering from anything, and I gave her a bezoar just in case it was poison, but I didn't find anything. She just seems to have fallen asleep."

"Maybe she's just tired," Diana said, unable to coop with the thought of anything else. She felt like her mind was already slipping away from her, she couldn't bear it if something were to happen to Heidi.

"Come on," Hermione guided her away gently. "You should get some rest."

"What about Sirius?" Diana found herself asking again. "Where is he?"

"I gave him over to Fudge," Severus Snape declared as he emerged from behind the curtains that led to Neville's bed.

"You what?" Diana asked in a low growl, narrowing her eyes dangerously at him.

"Severus, I think it best –"

"I gave him over to Fudge," Snape repeated, despite Dumbledore's warning. "He was a convicted criminal. A fugitive who was accused of betraying your parents to the very man that ended up killing them, despite parading as their friend. He was a murderer that deserves –"

No one really got to her what it was the Severus Snape thought Sirius Black deserved, for the occupants of the room had mad the mistake of leaving the red-hair's wand inside her pocket, and faster than you could blink, Diana pulled out her wand and shot a curs at Snape. And she didn't shoot just any cure.

"_Crucio_!"

Snape suddenly found himself wriggling on the floor, screaming out his lungs as intense pain coursed through every inch of his body seaming to go on forever. And then it suddenly stopped and he found himself panting and gulping out breaths of air like he'd been deprived of it for a very long time. He took a sharp intake of breath and turned to look in horror at the scene before him.

Albus Dumbledore was holding Diana's wand secure in his had, his own wand pointed at the red-haired, eyes narrowed, unforgiving, and Diana had fallen on the floor, her left cheek burning red and eyes glaring at Dumbledore as cold and determined as the old mans were. Hermione and Madam Pomfrey had both shrunk to a corner each, looking horrified.

"Have you lost your mind, Miss Potter?" Dumbledore asked coldly, and Severus knew that if the old man were glaring at anyone else with that look, most people would fear for their very lives. Not Diana, it would seam.

"You let Fudge take him," Diana accused, glaring evenly at Dumbledore from her place on the floor. She slowly rose to her feet. "You knew he was innocent! Sirius told me you came to see him and confirmed his innocence, AND YOU STILL LET FUDGE TAKE HIM!"

"Because there was nothing I could do!" Dumbledore said forcefully. "I had no proof of his innocence and Black is a convicted killer. There's noting _I_ can do," Dumbledore tried to explain, but Diana was beyond reasoning with.

"No, but you put him there to begin with, didn't you!" She snapped at him. "You testified against him! Sirius said you told the jury that he was the Potter's secret keeper! You swore it!"

"And I was mistaken!" Dumbledore said.

"Damn right you were!" Diana snapped. "So, get out there and make it right!" she hissed spitefully at him. "You're to blame for this, so you better bring my godfather back to me!"

"Black is guilty!" Snape spat, feeling frustrated. How could Dumbledore believe such nonsense? Black was a bastard, only out for his own gain, he was guilty!

"Shut up!" Diana screamed at him and was about to launch herself at Snape, but Dumbledore lifted her up into the air to restrain her.

"Severus, I have some business to attend to with Miss Granger and Miss Potter. Why don't you lie down for a moment and rest. I'm sure you've had to go through quite an ordeal," Dumbledore said, and, beckoning Hermione, he levitated Diana out the door and he exited the room after the two girls.

"PUT ME DOWN!" Diana screamed indignantly as Dumbledore levitated her into the first empty classroom he could find and ushered Hermione inside, closing the door behind them.

"Silencio!" He cast, silencing Diana in one go. "You shall listen carefully Miss Potter!" he warned, glaring at her. "There is very little I can do for Sirius at his moment. Fudge was informed that Black was captured, and he'd already arrived and sentenced him to death by the time word of this reached me and Fudge won't hear any protests or pleas from anyone at this moment. Within the hour, you're godfather will be dead, killed by Dementors. Do you want that?" Dumbledore asked her, and Diana shock her head vehemently.

"Then we must get him out of Hogwarts," Dumbledore said simply. "You must give me time to compile the proper evidence and talk with the proper people that can help me oppose Fudge's decision to kill your godfather on the spot. But in order to do that, he has to live past tonight! Do you understand?"

Diana nodded and Dumbledore placed her back on the ground and canceled the silencing charm.

"How do we do that?" Diana asked determined to save Sirius.

"I believe your friend Miss Granger can help you with that," Dumbledore said, looking intently at Hermione.

Hermione gulped.

"Do you mean I should…?"

"Five turns should be enough," Dumbledore said. "Black is being held in the West Tower. If all goes well tonight you shall be able to save more than one innocent life. And remember: you must not be seen!"

With that said, Dumbledore quickly exited the room and Hermione peeked out of the door to see Dumbledore heading down the hall with herself and Diana emerging from the other end of the hallway, and the three of them entering the Hospital wing together.

"What did he mean that you could help me?" Diana asked. "Does he want us to break Sirius out on our own?"

"Yes," Hermione said nodding.

"How do we do that?" Diana asked anxious. "Fudge will execute Sirius within the hour! We don't have time to come up with a plan!"

"We do have time," Hermione assured and pulled out the hour-glass medallion Diana has mistake for a present that Ron had given her. "We have all the time in the world!" Hermione assured her and stepped towards her, pulling the medallion around both of their heads.

"Your mother's medallion?" Diana asked perplexed. "How's that going to help us?"

"I'm sorry," Hermione said. "I lied. This isn't my mother's medallion." She spun the small wheel on the medallion five timed and let got. "It's a time turner."

And something miraculous happened. Diana saw the room lighting up as if the sun was rising from the east, not the west, and light was shining through the window again, illuminating the old classroom in fast-forward, till suddenly, it all stopped.

Hermione took the medallion off her and looked around the place confused.

"How did you do that?" Diana asked.

"It's a time turner," Hermione explained showing her the device. "It's a magical compass that helps me travel back in time. Its how I've been able to get to classes on time all year."

"A time machine?" Diana asked amazed, taking the medallion from Hermione.

"Not really," Hermione said. "I don't know if it can travel into the future, or how much into the past it can go. McGonagall told me I should restrict myself to only using it for a few hours at a time."

"And you kept this from us, for a whole year?" Diana asked incredulously.

"I was going to tell you!" Hermione assured. "And Heidi found out."

"Of course she did," Diana shrugged as if this was to be expected.

"I didn't mean to tell her and leave the rest of you out, she just happened to –"

"Wait…" Diana whispered mystified. "Are we in the past, right now?" she asked hopefully. "And Neville hasn't been bitten, right?"

Hermione's face suddenly contorted painfully.

"Diana," she said carefully, gingerly even. "It's best if you do not alter the things that have already happened."

"But this is Neville we're talking about!" Diana said furiously. "Do you want him to be a werewolf?!"

"No!" Hermione swore solemnly. "But… it's, it's something that already happened. That _we_ know happened. It's something that might affect our coming here in the first place, and we have to be carful not to create a paradox!"

"I don't care!" Diana said stubbornly, grinding her teeth. "I'm not going to let Neville get bitten! I won't! And there's nothing you can say to stop me!"

Hermione sighed. This was indeed a worse case scenario. She was stuck back in time with the most stubborn of the quartet and was suppose to save Sirius within the next five hours, while at the same time, figure out what Dumbledore meant when he said that they could save more than one innocent life tonight?

Neville was definitely an innocent, but his life wasn't in danger… unless Dumbledore did imply that Neville was dying, in which case –

"Diana!" Hermione screamed horrified when she saw the red-haired waling out the door. "What are you doing?!" Hermione asked panicking as she rushed after her.

"Going to collect my invisibility cloak and Marauders Map from the Tower," Diana said. "We had neither on us when we left for the Shrieking Shack, and I figure that those could come in handy."

"Right," Hermione nodded. "Good idea! But, not right now!" she insisted.

"Why?" Diana asked.

"Because right now the Gryffindor Tower is packed! We'll be seen!" Hermione said. "But if we wait till everyone leaves for dinner, we'll be able to get in unseen."

"Alright," Diana nodded.

"What are you two doing here?" Luna Lovegood asked while stepping up behind them.

"Luna?!" Hermione exclaimed horrified, but Diana just glared at her.

"Oh, will you stop that! Luna is our friend!"

Luna smiled that wan misty smile at them.

"Are you going to see Hagrid?" she asked the two of them.

Hermione and Diana shared a confused look. Where exactly they were going, Hermione didn't know, after all, there was apparently another life that needed saving toady, and she had no idea who that might be.

"Why would we go to see Hagrid?" Diana asked.

"Well, I saw Fudge arrive a few moments ago, with the executioner in toe," Luna said, sounding genuinely concerned.

"Executioner?" both Hermione and Diana asked going pale.

It couldn't be for Sirius! Sirius was safe! He wouldn't be in danger for a few more hours at least. Unless…

"Did they come for Buckbeak?" Hermione asked panicked.

"What?!" Diana questioned amazed.

"I think so," Luna said a bit uncertain.

"Why didn't Hagrid tell us?!" Diana asked looking peeved and rushing off towards Hagrid's. Hermione and Luna were quick on her tail.

They got to the big stones gathered around on the hill that led the way towards Hagrid's hut, and noticed that, indeed there was a man waiting at the foot of the valley, a hooded man who was sharpening his ax. The girls snuck around back, descending the hill through the left side and hiding out between the bushes up until they made their way towards the back entrance to Hagrid's hut. Unfortunately for them, it seemed that the Minister was inside, discussing the terms of the execution with Hagrid and what sounded like Dumbledore.

"What do we do?" Diana asked.

"We have to get Buckbeak away from them," Hermione said. "But Fudge needs to see him first so that he doesn't think Dumbledore or Hagrid responsible for setting him free."

"But how do we save him if we let him see him?" Diana asked. "When he walks outside of the hut he'll kill him!"

"Didn't Fudge already see Buckbeak?" Luna interrupted helpfully. "When he went inside the hut? And doesn't he have both Dumbledore and Hagrid under his supervision right now?"

"And the executioner is standing guard at the foot of the valley, so he can't accuse anyone else of coming to untie him! Luna you're a genius!" Hermione said and hugged the girl.

"So, we get him now?!" Diana asked eagerly.

"We get him now!" Hermione nodded.

The girls moved towards the fence where Buckbeak was at, trying to keep out of the sight of the executioner, and Luna grabbed on to the pair of skinned rabbits that were hanging out to dry by the fence. Hermione took the rabbits from Luna and gave them to Diana.

"Best if you go and get him," the curly-haired said. "He seems to like you."

Diana shock her head at her friend's cowardice and took the rabbits from her.

"Hey there boy," Diana said as she bowed her head to the might beat and lifted her face to give it a smile. Buckbeak was quick to return the courtesy. "Come on!" Diana beckoned as she untied the ropes that bound him to the fence and Buckbeak got to his feet and made his way towards her easily. She was about to lead Buckbeak away towards the forest where Hermione and Luna were waiting, but just then the door to Hagrid's hut opened, and Dumbledore stepped outside.

Diana froze on the spot uncertain of what to do, but it seemed that Dumbledore was struck with an idea.

"I beg your pardon, Minister, there's one more little detail I would like to verify before we proceed," he said kindly and stepped back in the hut.

Diana heaved in a breath and pulled on Buckbeak's rains while making certain the executioner wasn't looking their way and guided Buckbeak inside the forest towards Luna and Hermione.

"Hello there," Luna bowed respectfully and Buckbeak bowed to her as well. So did Hermione, and she was surprised to see how quick the beast was to respond to her.

"He must have been so lonely," Luna whispered as she petted his beak gently. "And he's eager to make friends again."

"Would you mind looking after him?" asked Diana. "We need to sneak back to Gryffindor tower for our cloak and map, and someone needs to look after him."

"I'd love to," Luna assured.

And that's exactly what they did. They waited for diner to start and for every student to enter the great hall before they snuck up to Gryffindor tower. They made sure the fat lady saw them go in and out, so that she wouldn't then spread the rumor that the two of them had been locked in the tower since diner when they were supposed to be with Dumbledore in the hospital wing. And as they got back Hermione pulled Luna apart and said:

"You'll see us in the Great Hall at diner –"

"And you want me to pretend like this never happened, for now," Luna guessed intuitively.

"Yes," Hermione nodded.

"And please don't go out of the castle tonight!" Diana said as she grabbed hold of her. "Promise me you'll go straight to bed tonight!"

Luna seemed to gaze at her somewhat perplexed, but eventually nodded.

"I can't come with you on this adventure?" she asked, seaming to suspect they were about to do something.

"I'd rather you not," Diana said, being unable to hide the fear and concern she felt at the moment.

"Than you better promise me you'll come back alright," Luna asked, and Diana nodded, putting up a brave little smile for the girl, and Luna was off, safe in the castle, where no Dementor or werewolf could reach her.

"I'm starting to see why Heidi likes her so much," Hermione commented as she watched Luna go.

"You like her too," Diana accused, and Hermione couldn't find herself able to deny it.

Yes, she did like Luna. She was a grate friend. A little weird, but still a great friend to have around nonetheless.

"In a few hours I'll be taking that crystal ball back to Trelawney," Diana muttered startling Hermione from her thoughts.

…

"…You never did tell us what happened," Hermione whispered after a moment of silence. She was dreading the answer, she really was, but she needed to know what had possessed her friend to act so impulsively all of a sudden.

Hermione took Diana by the hand and sat her down on a tree trunk and she sat down beside the red-haired. Buckbeak was tied by a tree somewhere nearby, feeding on the night birds that were flying off towards their nest, and the night was slowly setting around them. Diana was silent as a stone for a full minute, before she finally opened her mouth to talk.

"I saw her hunched there on the stairs, eyes looking out into the distance," Diana began. "I thought she'd fallen asleep on her feet, so I drew closer, hoping to wake her up. And when I reach out to touch her, she grabbed me, and started speaking almost like in a trace. I can't rely remember the words very well because my eyes were flooded with visions. At the very least, I think they were visions…."

"What were they about?" Hermione asked, voice slightly shaking.

"Sirius," Diana whispered going all misty eyes. "The scene at the lake. The Dementors were sucking out his soul," the red-haired said softy, almost ready to sob. "But I never saw him."

"Who?" Hermione asked.

"Neville," Diana replied. "I didn't see Neville. I saw the tunnel, the shack, Pettigrew and Sirius getting his soul sucked but I never saw Neville getting bitten," Diana said sobbing. "And it all happened because of me. If I hadn't of gone after Sirius, Neville wouldn't have been bitten and Sirius –"

"Would still be in Fudge's custody," Hermione said gently.

"But Neville wouldn't have been bitten!" Diana insisted. "I did that to him! He got bitten because of me! He was protecting me!"

"And he was protecting Heidi when he slew a Basilisk," Hermione reminded. "I think you really aren't giving Neville enough credit when it comes to what he'd do for his friends. He loves us, and we love him! And if it would have been any one of us, we would have done the same as Neville for any one of our friends! I know I would," Hermione whispered. "And I wouldn't regret it."

"I wouldn't either," Diana said. "If it were me."

"Than someone else would be in your shoos right now," Hermione said. "Feeling guilty for having put you in danger."

"What's your point?" Diana asked.

"I don't have a point," Hermione said simply. "I was just speaking my mind."

They stood in companionable silence, neither of them really feeling like talking, both lost in their thoughts.

Hermione was still arguing with herself whether Buckbeak was the only other life she needed to save? She saw the importance of him. Sirius could easily use him to escape. And Buckbeak could actually fly them to the tower when the time came…. Though, she hoped Buckbeak could fly himself, because neither she nor Diana were any good at things that involved getting their feet off the ground.

"It wasn't the first time," Diana said, drawing Hermione's attention.

"What was?" Hermione asked confused.

"Tonight, wasn't the first time I've seen things," Diana said, and Hermione's stomach filled up with dread. "I've had glimpses of events here and there. It's like, when I look into the crystal ball, I can actually see things. They're blurry, and vague, but I can se _something_! Though this is the first time it's come true."

"Second," Hermione said, and lowered her head to the ground.

"What do you mean?" Diana asked uncertain.

"Do you remember a few months back when you sought me out in the library and told me that my alarm clock won't ring, and that your sister would be mad at me," Hermione asked.

"When you quit Divination," Diana nodded. "That was a weird one actually. I was so sure it was going to happen and that I had to warn you."

"It happened," Hermione told her, and let the silence sink in as Diana processed the information.

"… it happened…?" the red-haired asked mystified.

"Yeah," Hermione nodded. "It was the day Heidi confronted me about my time-turner. She set a trap for me to be late, and assumed I'd use the time-turner to get to class on time. She assumed right. And she cornered me, furious as all hell. I don't know how I managed to placate her."

"I don't know either, my sister is pretty touchy-feely about things like this," Diana said.

"Tell me about it," Hermione sigh looking miserable.

"She doesn't like it when people keep secrets from her or lie to her…" Diana whispered thinking of her own secrets.

"I know," Hermione said simply.

"Why do you think I can do this?" Diana asked. "See these things?"

"I don't know," Hermione replied. "I don't know, but I'm sure there's a reason for it. We just haven't figured it out yet."

And they were silent after that.

They stood there for a long time, Diana lost in thought about her new found abilities and Hermione wondering whether Diana was right about them needing to save Neville as well. She was also questioning whether it was even possible for them to save Neville, for surely, it would have never even occurred to them to save him if he hadn't of been in danger, and if they didn't know about Neville being in danger, they most certainly wouldn't have gone to save him. Or would Diana still be driven to save Sirius and save Neville accidentally in the process? Would the universe just work out a solution to their problem on its own, or would time collapse in on itself and kill them all because they've created a paradox?

"Hermione!" Diana said drawing her attention. "I think I herd Lupin turn!"

"What?!" Hermione asked startled. "But how….?"

And she wanted to bludgeon herself because of her own stupidity, since they had gone to the Shack after diner, it stands to reason that they didn't have much time before the events occurred.

It was now or never. She had to decide if it was worth risking creating a paradox to save Neville or –

"Diana!"

The red-haired had again, run off without her, heading for the Forbidden Forest, most like going to try and save Neville.

Should she stop Diana? Or should she let her save Neville? She really didn't have a clue.

"Diana wait! There might be –"

And her breath suddenly turned to mist.

" –Dementors…"

A chill started to spread all over Hermione's bones, up until she felt herself stop in place because her legs couldn't move. She was that terrified, and hope seemed to have all but abandoned her.

"Hermione?"

There was Diana, standing in front of her and calling out her name, but for some reason the image seemed to distort itself, turning into something frightening, as Diana's face contorted into an angry glare, and she saw the red-haired lift her wand and point it straight at her.

"_Crucio_!"

She could hear the hate in her voice, and see the malice in her gaze and Hermione found herself turning her head away, unable to see the sight anymore.

_No! That's not her! That's not Diana!_ She kept repeating to herself, but even with her eyes close, she could still see her, that angry glare, that spiteful word flowing out of her mouth, directed at her.

"_You lied to me! Traitor! You kept things from me and you know I don't like to be lied to!_"

She heard something hiss repeatedly as the surrounding air seemed to have turned to ice and it was getting harder and harder to breath or keep herself from shaking.

"Expecto Patronum!"

Someone said in a distant sounding voice, like an echo lost amidst the wind. But her vision seemed to clear suddenly, and the air around her seemed to melt as her lungs could afford to breath again.

"What are you doing?!" Someone said as they grabbed her hand and pulled her forward, and Hermione opened her eyes to stare at Diana's flaming red-hair, as she pulled her along.

"Get a grip!" the red-haired turned to glare at her, not the threatening glare, but a glare nonetheless. "Else the Dementors will get you! You need to defend yourself Hermione!"

And Hermione suddenly remembered where she was, and why she was here.

_Right, I'm here to save Sirius Black!_ She told herself firmly, and somehow that made it all seem better. She had a purpose now, and she wasn't going to lose it.

-OOOOO-

Diana quickened her pace, pulling Hermione with her. She didn't have time for this, she needed to save Neville! But the Dementors looked like they'd be a problem.

"We should go around them!" Hermione said. "It'll be safer that way!"

"We'll be too late then!" Diana insisted, but the air got colder and colder by the second and suddenly there was a gigantic black-hooded figure blocking their path, with more following behind it, and a few coming in from behind.

"Don't lose your head!" Hermione said, and Diana snapped at her:

"Ditto!"

The two girls exchanged a panicked look before Hermione nodded looking resigned, and they both charged at the black figure wands drawn.

"Expecto Patronum!" They both cried in unison, and despite the fact that they could only produce and unstable pile of smoke, the two of them combined was enough to force their way past the first defense and the Dementors scattered and spun around them till the smoke cleared and they decided to attack again.

"Expecto Patronum!" The two chanted again, and this time, one big Dememtor didn't get out of their way, and Diana panicked tried to hit him with a Flippendo spell, which did nothing but encourage the large figure to attack them with the other Dementors following his lead.

It was getting colder, and the voices in her head were getting louder, and she had no idea who was screaming, the real Hermione, dream-Hermione, her or her mother –

My mother…? Diana questioned mystified.

"Not my babies! Please! Anything but my babies!"

It was a woman's voice, one she was sure she'd never heard before, yet for some reason she knew… and then she remembered Heidi's speech:

"_I've never heard her voice before, but I _knew_ who she was!"_

….Yes, she did know, and she had no idea how she knew but she knew…

Her mother….

"Diana!" an echo whispered in the wind, she had no idea whose it was. But she didn't care, she wanted to hear her again. Her mother. It was her mother!

"Please! Not my babies!"

She sounded so desperate and afraid, a testament to how much she loved them.

_She really did love me…_

And it was amazing, but there was a sudden warmth in her chest, spreading through her and clearing her head, and suddenly, she saw him, the black-hooded figure standing in front of her, leering over her and coming closer. And she wasn't afraid.

She pointed her wand at him and whispered:

"Expecto Patronum!"

A great white beam flew out of her wand, propelling the figure backwards and sending it spiraling away from them as a great white doe emerged from her wand and spread its wings around her and Hermione, shielding them from the Dementors which shied away from it. And then it charged at them, and sent them flying away in horror.

Feeling returned to her, and the air grew warmer and her lungs could breathe more easily, and she was suddenly aware of Hermione's hand clinging on to hers so tight, she was certain it'll break.

"That was amazing," Hermione whispered breathlessly as she turned towards her.

"You're crushing my hand," Diana said, wincing at her.

"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed as she let go of her hand and Diana pulled it to her chest, flexing and un-flexing her fingers. "Sorry."

"No worries," Diana assured smiling at her. "Let's go save Neville!"

And the two rushed towards the lake only to be greeted with a desolating sight: The Dementors were already there.

Diana was just about to pull out her wand and cast another Patronus, but, miraculously, she was her patronus, her doe, charging through the Dementors and scattering them away.

She glared shocked at the white doe which felt too unfamiliar, and followed it with her gaze, until the doe disappeared inside the wand of one Severus Snape, who emerged out of the trees at a sprint, and dropped to his knees right beside her lifeless body.

She couldn't actually hear him, she was too far away, but she could see the concern plain on his face, as he picked her up gently, casting a few spells on her and checking her pulse. And then he noticed Neville, and was quick to undo the bandages that she'd done and Diana felt pain fill her left hand as Hermione grabbed and crushed her had at the sight of Neville's torn flesh, his bone protruding from amidst the raw wound.

Snape lifted his wand and sent out the patronus once more, and then he directed his attention towards Neville's wound, applying spell after spell over the wounded surface. And then she remembered Dumbledore's speech:

"_Severus found you and young Neville amidst the Dementors and he was quick to tend to the boy's wounds and thankfully they weren't infected. Poppy had just finished re-growing the boy's muscles and skin before you awakened, and is now treating him for the aftermaths of the Dementor's attack. I'm afraid he's lost a lot of blood, and his body temperature has dropped very much, but Poppy and Severus assure me they can stabilize him, which is what they are doing right now."_

Severus Snape had most like saved Neville's and her life. The man she was going to torture in a few hours was solely responsible for her even being here, for Neville even still being alive, for Sirius still being alive. And she had repaid him with an Unforgivable.

"I tortured him," Diana whispered startling Hermione out of her daze. "He saved me and I –"

"Do not –" Hermione spilled viciously as she held on to her hand more firmly and spun her towards her. " – break down on me now! We need to save Sirius! Just focus on that till it's done and than you can make amends to whoever you want! But for now, focus on that!"

Diana nodded, half-mad with guilt, half-hoping to get her mind off this whole mess, otherwise she felt like she might just lose herself tonight.

She followed Hermione back towards where they'd tied Buckbeak and they both gingerly climbed on Buckbeak's back.

"I need you to take me to the West Tower boy," Diana said, petting the beast's feathers lightly. It seemed like Buckbeak understood her, because he unveiled his wings and lifted them up into the air, high towards the clouds above, and Diana would lie if she said she wasn't equally mortified and thrilled, but it was a pleasant escape. Buckbeak seemed to turn at her command, almost like he understood her every words, and, before long, they reached the West Tower, landing softly on the stoned surface, and Hermione quickly let go of her and jumped off the Hippogriff's back. Diana was quick to do the same, and still holding Buckbeak's rains, she made her way towards the door of the tower.

"Sirius?" she called out uncertain.

"Diana?" Sirius responded. "Is that you?"

And Diana suddenly felt a weight lift off her shoulders at hearing his ragged voice.

"Are you aright?" she asked driven to sobs again.

"Yes, I'm alright," Sirius assured. "What are you doing here?" he asked concerned.

"We came to rescue you," Hermione told him. "Stand aside, because I need to blast this door off its hinges! And you hold on to that Hippogriff!" she told Diana.

And without a moment's delay, she blasted the door aside.

"Quickly!" Hermione beckoned Sirius, and her godfather emerged from the cell, a little worse for wear, but for the most part, unharmed. Diana hugged him, handing Buckbeak's rains to Hermione, who tried to shoot the poor animal that'd gotten a little jumpy at hearing the blast.

"I'm so glad you're alive!" Diana said thrilled as she smiled up at him.

"They couldn't kill me off that easily," Sirius said jokingly and cupped her cheek to give her a quick kiss on the forehead. "You doing alright prongselt?"

"We don't have time!" Hermione snapped at them. "The Minister will be here any minute, alerted by the noise! You have to go!"

"She's right!" Diana nodded.

"Why can't I turn into a dog and go back to Hagrid's?" Sirius asked.

"Because you have to take Buckbeak to safety," Hermione said stubbornly.

"That's Buckbeak?" Sirius asked amazed. "I thought they'd executed him this morning!"

"So you knew?!" Diana asked. "Why didn't you tell us?! Why didn't Hagrid – "

"We do _not_ have time for this!" Hermione stressed.

"Agreed," Sirius said as he took Buckbeak's rains from Hermione. "What about you girls?"

Diana pulled out the invisibility cloak and the Marauder's Map.

"I think we'll manage," she told him and Sirius grinned at her.

"You are your father's daughter, after all," he said with a wink, and he climbed on Buckbeak's back.

"You have a place you can go and hide out, right?" Diana asked suddenly panicking.

"Don't worry about me!" Sirius told her firmly. "I'll get by, you girls take care that you don't get caught!"

And he spun Buckbeak around and was off before anyone could see him.

Hermione was quick to grab Diana's cloak and fling it over their heads, while Diana watched Sirius go, disappearing into the night sky, out of sight, but safe.


End file.
